A new survey has put the amount paid to public officials in Nigeria as spent on bribes in Nigeria yearly at N400 billion or $4.6 billion in purchasing power parity (PPP).
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its National Corruption report published on its website, the amount is equivalent to 39 per cent of the combined federal and state education budgets in 2016.
It is estimated that a total of roughly 82.3 million bribes were paid in Nigeria in 2015, representing an average of 0.93 bribe paid by every adult Nigerian per year.
The report notes that 32.3 per cent of Nigerian who had contact with a public official between June 2015 and May 2016 had to pay, or were requested to pay, a bribe to a public official.
According to the survey, bribe payers in Nigeria pay an average of some six bribes in one year, or roughly one bribe every two months
While Nigerians see bribery as the third most important problem confronting the country, they still spend about one eight of their salary on bribes
“The average sum paid as a cash bribe in Nigeria is approximately NGN 5,300, which is equivalent to roughly $61 PPP. This means that every time a Nigerian pays a cash bribe, he or she spends an average of about 28.2 per cent of the average monthly salary of approximately NGN 18,900. Since bribe in Nigeria pay an average of 5.8 bribes over the payers course of one year, 92 per cent of which are paid in cash, they spend an average of NGN 28,200 annually on cash bribes the annual average salary.
The report which is a collaboration of Nigeria’s Statistics Bureau, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs Control (UNODC) revealed that 42 per cent of bribes are paid to speed up or finalize an administrative procedure, while 18 per cent and 13 per cent of bribes are paid to avoid the payment of a fine, or avoid the cancellation of public utility services.
The report further identified the Police as topping the list of those that bribes are paid to. According to the report at least 46.4 per cent pay at least one bribe to a Police officer. They are closely followed by judicial officers with 33 per cent.
NBS also revealed in the report that more men representing 37.1 per cent pay bribes than women (26.6 per cent.