N400bn Spent On Bribes In Nigeria Yearly – NBS

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), on Thursday disclosed that N400 billion was spent on bribes each year in Nigeria, taking into account that nine of every 10 bribes are paid in cash.

The NBS stated this in “Corruption in Nigeria, Bribery: Public Experience and Response 2017 Survey’’, posted on the bureau’s website in Abuja.

The bureau stated that it was estimated that the total amount of bribes paid to public officials in Nigeria in the 12 months prior to the survey was around N400 billion.

The survey was conducted in April/May 2016 in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria.

It said that the amount was equivalent to 4.6 billion dollars in purchasing power parity (PPP); the sum is equivalent to 39 per cent of the combined federal and state education budgets in 2016.

The NBS said that bribe-payers in Nigeria spent an eighth of their salary on bribes. On average, the report stated that almost one bribe was paid by every adult Nigerian per year.

It stated that by combining the total number of people who paid a bribe to a public official with the frequency of those payments, it was estimated that a total of roughly 82.3 million bribes were paid.

It added that roughly 82.3 million bribes were paid in Nigeria in the 12 months prior to the survey.

According to the report, this results in an average of 0.93 bribes paid per adult, or almost one bribe paid by every adult Nigerian per year.

The report further revealed that almost a third of Nigerian adults paid bribes when in contact with public officials.

It stated that almost a third of Nigerian adults (32.3 per cent) who had contact with a public official between June 2015 and May 2016 had to pay, or were requested to pay a bribe to that public official.