Nigerians have said that while corruption is worsening, they risk retaliation if they speak up, according to a new survey by Afrobarometer.
The survey said that a growing majority of Nigerians believe that corruption worsened over the past year, and only a few believe that people can report it to the authorities without fear of retaliation.
The report said that citizens no longer have trust or confidence in key public institutions as they are widely seen as corrupt, including the police, the presidency, parliament, tax and local government offices, even judges and magistrates.
The findings also show that many citizens are forced to pay bribes to access basic public services.
Most say the government is performing poorly in its fight against corruption.
The findings reveal that eight in 10 Nigerians (80%) believe that the level of corruption in the country increased “somewhat”; or “a lot”; over the past year, nearly double the proportion who thought corruption increased in 2017 (43%).
Among key public institutions, the police are most widely perceived as corrupt: 70% of respondents say “most”; or “all”; police officials are involved in corruption.
According to the report, majority says the same about Parliament (65%), the Presidency (62%), local government councillors (55%), tax officials (55%), and judges and magistrates (54%).
Among citizens who sought selected public services during the previous year, substantial proportions say they had to pay a bribe to obtain police assistance (67%), to get a government document (56%), to avoid problem with the police (53%), or to
receive services at a public medical facility (26%).
Only one in 10 Nigerians (10%) believe that people can report corruption to the authorities without fear of retaliation.
An overwhelming majority (90%) of Nigerians say the government is doing “fairly badly”; or “very badly”; at fighting corruption in government.
Afrobarometer’s national partners conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice.
The Afrobarometer team in Nigeria, led by NOIPolls, interviewed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability sample of 1,600 adult Nigerians between 19 June and 17 July 2024.
