Nigerian judges and magistrates received the most bribes among public officials in 2023, surpassing the police, customs, and military personnel, according to a report by the Statistics Bureau.
The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its corruption pattern and trend in Nigeria for 2023, ranked judges as first among collectors of cash bribes among other public officials.
“There are large variations in the size of bribes paid by citizens, according to the types of public officials who receive them,” NBS said in the report released Thursday.
“Among all types of public officials for which there was sufficient data, with an average of NGN 31,000, the largest cash bribes were paid to judges and magistrates, followed by customs or immigration service officers (NGN17,800) and members of the armed forces (NGN16,600).
“By contrast, much smaller average amounts were paid to doctors, nurses and midwives (NGN 6,000), public utility officers (NGN 4,600) and other health workers (NGN 2,900),” it added.
The survey also records a staggering ₦721 billion in bribes collected by Nigerian public officials, noting that the “average cash bribe paid in Nigeria in 2023 amounted to ₦8,284.”
The survey uncovers a troubling hierarchy of corruption in Nigerian public institutions, revealing that judges, who are entrusted with upholding justice, received the largest bribes, thus echoing the public perception of a corrupt judiciary.
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