Nigerian anti‐corruption statutes: an impact assessment
| Published date | 28 December 2012 |
| Date | 28 December 2012 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13685201311286869 |
| Pages | 62-78 |
| Author | Osaretin Aigbovo,Lawrence Atsegbua |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Nigerian anti-corruption statutes:
an impact assessment
Osaretin Aigbovo and Lawrence Atsegbua
Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of Nigerian anti-corruption provisions
targeted at curbing corruption by public officers.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines relevant provisions of the code of conduct
for public officers in the Constitution of Nigeria, and other statutes directed at curbing official
corruption, and then undertakes an assessment of their impact in the fight against corruption. The
assessment is drawn from the direct pronouncements and actions of the highest political figures in
Nigeria since return to civilian rule in 1999, and the views of policy makers and implementers,
development partners and academics on the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.
Findings – Since the advent of civilian rule in 1999, the Nigerian government has introduced several
reforms through the enactment of new constitutional provisions and statutes directed at official
corruption. The code of conduct provisions in the Constitution provides for and enforces an ethical
guide for public officers; the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act (ICPC Act) prohibits
corruption in the conduct of government business generally; the Public Procurement Act (PPA)
introduced mandatory requirements of transparency, and prohibits nepotism, inflation of contract and
other corrupt acts in the award of government contracts; while the Nigerian Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative Act (NEITI Act) introduced mandatory requirements of transparency and
disclosure in extractive industries. Although the government introduced these reforms with
enthusiasm, it has shown a lack of will power to implement them to a logical conclusion. The result is
that the reform measures introduced through these legal provisions have not had any substantial
impact in curbing corruption in the respective sectors covered by them.
Research limitations/implications – This paper is restricted to an examination of the impact of
legal provisions directed against official corruption in Nigeria. It does not discuss legal provisions
directed at economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.
Originality/value – This paper presents an assessment of the impact of the legal provisions directed
at curbing official corruption in Nigeria since 1999. The assessment reflects the views and attitudes of
the highest ranking public officers, technocrats in charge of implementation of the legal reforms,
legislators, development partners and informed academics.
Keywords Nigeria, Publicadministration, Corruption, Anti-corruption, Code of conduct,
Public procurement,Extractive industries, Transparency
Paper type General review
Introduction
The World Bank (1997) defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain.
Corruption has negative long-term economic effects, increases transaction costs and
leads to inefficient economic outcomes through reducing investment, diverting human
capital to rent-seeking activities, and reducing the state’s ability to generate revenue
(Hutchinson, 1998, p. 2; Ocheje, 2001). Corruption also has harmful social effects, for
example, it disproportionately affects the poor by increasing the cost of basic social
services, particularly in the health, education, and justice sectors, thus increasing the
levels of inequality, with the attendant risk of destabilization for the society
(Hutchinson, 1998, p. 2).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1368-5201.htm
JMLC
16,1
62
Journal of Money Laundering Control
Vol. 16 No. 1, 2013
pp. 62-78
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/13685201311286869
It is a proven fact that corruption is prevalent in Nigeria and that it has negatively
affected Nigeria’s development (ICPC, 2010a; Ampratwum, 2008; Makinwa, 2008).
In his inaugural address on May 29, 1999, former President Olusegun Obasanjo in
identifying corruption as the greatest single bane of Nigeria lamented:
Government officials became progressively indifferent to propriety of conduct and showed
little commitment to promoting the general welfare of the people and the public good.
Government and all its agencies became thoroughly corrupt and reckless. Members of the
public had to bribe their way through in Ministries and parastatals to get attention and one
government agency had to bribe another government agency to obtain the release of their
statutory allocation of funds [...]
The impact of corruption is so rampant and has earned Nigeria a very bad image at home
and abroad. Besides, it has distorted and retrogressed development. Our infrastructures –
NEPA, NITEL, Roads, Railways, Education, Housing and other social services were allowed
to decay and collapse (Obasanjo, 1999).
Past Nigerian governments had made unsuccessful attempts to reduce corruption to a
minimal level. These attempts included the enactment of the Corrupt Practices Decree of
1975, the Ethical Revolution of President Shehu Shagari in 1981-1983, the War Against
Indiscipline of General Muhammadu Buhari in 1984, the National Orientation
Movement by General Ibrahim Babangida in 1986, the Mass Mobilization for Social
Justice and Economic Reconstruction also by General Ibrahim Babangida in 1987 and
the War Against Indiscipline and Corruption in 1996 by General Sani Abacha. (ICPC,
2010b). Apart from these efforts, the two principal penal codes in Nigeria, the criminal
code and penal code criminalizes corruption[1].
The pervading corruption in Nigeria led to the country being rated as the most
corrupt country in the world in year 2000 by Transparency International (2010) in its
Corruption Perception Index.
Former President Obasanjo wasted no time in keeping his promise to tackle
corruption, as he sent the first comprehensive anti-corruption bill, the Corrupt Practices
and Other Related Offences Bill to the National Assembly shortly after he assumed office
in 1999. The bill was passed into law in June 2000, and he inaugurated the Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), created under
section 3 of the law on September 29, 2000.
The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act was in addition to the
provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which prescribed a code
of conduct for public officers and a Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal in part 1 of the
fifth schedule and part 1 of the third schedule (A), respectively, of the Constitution.
The civilian government of Obasanjo also enacted the Public Procurement Act (PPA)
and the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act to stiffen
the fight against corruption through the introduction of disclosure rules and
transparency in the award of government contracts and operations of extractive
industries. These provisions and statutes criminalized corruption by public officers and
private persons in the conduct of government business.
This article examines these anti-corruption provisions of the Constitution and the
forgoing Acts, and assesses their impact on the protracted problem of official corruption
in Nigeria. The assessment presented in this paper represents the views and findings of
critical policy makers, implementers of policy and stakeholders in the fight against
Nigerian
anti-corruption
statutes
63
To continue reading
Request your trial