The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday said the Judiciary is on top of the Nigeria Corruption Index between 2018 and 2020.
These details are contained in a report: “Nigeria Corruption Index: Report of a pilot survey”, which was made available on Tuesday by the Chairman of ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN), in Abuja.
The anti-corruption Commission claimed that about N9.457 billion was offered and paid as bribes by lawyers. Six female judges, according to the agency, reported that they were offered N3.307billion while five male judges reported N392.2million.
Owasanoye said the Nigeria Corruption Index, (NCI) “indicates that both the public and private sectors are complicit in the high corruption levels in Nigeria, but said the cases of outright demand and offer of bribes were “mostly linked to election matters.”
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The survey, which was carried out by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, the intellectual arm of the ICPC, also identified the specific practices that are contributing to the corruption levels. This is the sort of information that stakeholders require to plan and evaluate their anti-corruption work.
“ICPC is committed to stopping corruption in Nigeria using all lawful means and capabilities, including deployment of knowledge and data for effective anti-corruption action.”
The ICPC also cited alteration of court documents as part of the corruption in the Judiciary. The report also uncovered abuse of legislative office through project inspections and indicted Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) of engaging in corrupt practices by footing the bills of legislators on oversight visits. It also highlighted the methods being used by MDAs to perpetrate fraud.
