Corruption is an anti-social attitude awarding improper privileges contrary to legal and moral norms and impairs the authorities' capacity to secure the welfare of all citizens.
[2][3] Nigerian politicians find themselves in a strong position of power and wealth due to their connections with the oil and gas industries in Nigeria.
From considerable contract fraud at the top, through petty bribery, money laundering schemes, embezzlement, and seizing salaries from fake workers, it is estimated that corruption within the state apparatus costs the country billions of dollars annually.
[8][9] The rise of public administration and the discovery of oil and natural gas are two major events believed to have led to the sustained increase in the incidence of corrupt practices in the country.
[27] Major projects including building new refineries, pipelines, expanding the national shipping and airlines as well as hosting FESTAC was done during this administration.
The famous Afrobeat musician, Fela Kuti, sang variously about major scandals involving the international telecommunication firm ITT led by Chief MKO Abiola in Nigeria, which the then head of state, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, was associated with.
[33] In 1985, a cross-section of politicians was convicted of corrupt practices under the government of General Muhammadu Buhari, but the administration itself was only involved in a few instances of lapsed ethical judgment.
Some cite the suitcases scandal, which coincidentally involved then customs leader Atiku Abubakar, who later became vice president in 1999 and was indicted for various acts of corruption.
The 53 suitcases were, however, ferried through the Murtala Muhammed Airport without a customs check by soldiers allegedly at the behest of Major Mustapha Jokolo, the then aide-de-camp to Gen. Buhari.
[39] General Ibrahim Babangida used various government privatization initiatives to reward friends and cronies,[40] which eventually gave rise to the current class of nouveau riche in Nigeria.
Albeit, the suspicion remains that quite a huge amount of wealth was acquired by him and his inner circle in such a short period, as he lives in quite an exquisite mansion of his own adjacent IBB's that exceeds whatever he might have earned in legitimate income.
According to reports,[46] "while Nigeria dithered, the United States Department of Justice on January 18, 2012, announced that a Japanese construction firm, Marubeni Corporation, agreed to pay a $54.6 million criminal penalty for allegedly bribing officials of the Nigerian government to facilitate the award of the $6 billion liquefied natural gas contract in Bonny, Nigeria to a multinational consortium, TSKJ".
[47][48] Obasanjo also had to sack his labour minister Hussaini Akwanga on allegations that he took bribes to approve a major government contract to French electronics group.
[49] Obasanjo also sacked and handed over the Inspector General of Police Mr Tafa Balogun to the EFCC on grounds of corruption to the tune of 5.7 billion.
When Obasanjo took office in 1999, his government acquired not only a delicate state but an unsustainable economy heavily dependent on oil and imbalanced international trade deals.
[54] Yaradua's ascent and time in office were short, although a fair number of corruption scandals from previous administrations came to light under his tenure and went uninvestigated due to lack of political will and poor health.
Yaradua's various acts of political corruption using his attorney-general to frustrate ongoing local and international investigations of his powerful friends like Governors James Ibori, Lucky Igbinnedion, and Peter Odili which led to huge losses to their states.
In addition, leaked diplomatic cables revealed that the Supreme Court Justices were bribed to legitimize the corrupt elections that saw to his emergence as president through widespread rigging.
[59] Upon the release of both the PwC and Deloitte report by the government at the eve of its exit, it was however determined that truly close to $20 billion was indeed missing or misappropriated or spent without appropriation.
[64] In the dying days of Goodluck Jonathan's administration, the Central Bank scandal of cash tripping of mutilated notes also broke out, where it was revealed that in a four-day period, 8 billion naira was stolen directly by low-level workers in the CBN.
In 2016, the Senate ad hoc committee on the “mounting humanitarian crisis in the North East” led by Senator Shehu Sani indicted the then secretary to the Government of the Federation appointed by Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Babachir Lawal in a N200 million contract scandal for the clearing of “invasive plant species” in Yobe State by Rholavision Nigeria Limited; a company he owns.
[79] On October 30, 2017, President Buhari sacked Lawal based on the report of a three-man panel led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo that investigated him and one other.
[80] In 2016, Buhari was reportedly presented with evidence that his chief of staff, Abba Kyari, took a N500 million bribe from MTN to help it slash the $5 billion dollar fine slammed against it for violation of Nigeria telecommunications regulations bothering on national security.
[91] The EFCC also announced that for the first time in Nigeria's history, judges and top military officers including retired service chiefs were being prosecuted for corruption.
[91] In December 2019, the country's controversial ex-Attorney General Mohammed Adoke, who was accused of being bribed to grant oil licenses to Shell, was extradited back to Nigeria from Dubai and was immediately arrested.
It is culled from the Nigeria Survey and Corruption Survey Study, Final Report (June 2003) Institute for Development Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (IDR, ABU Zaria)[98] In February 2019, it was reported that Nigerian Police Force officers commonly gained extra money by extorting local residents of the sum of 50 Nigerian naira.
[108] The next day, another Nigeria Police Force officer from Lagos, Inspector Taloju Martins, was arrested after being caught on camera extorting a motorist.
[113] A 2024 survey conducted by the Chatham House Africa Programme’s Social Norms and Accountable Governance (SNAG) project found that 61 per cent of Nigerian households believe that judges in Nigeria were likely to accept bribes to influence their rulings.