Nigeria Corruption Chart 2010 - Police, PHCN, Customs still top

Police -------------58%
PHCN--------------39%
Revenue Officials---26%
Custom------------25%

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday raised the alarm that bribe payment to government officials by businesses in the country is on the increase.

They claimed that the police, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and the Nigeria Customs Service are still leading the corruption chart.

They also said that corporate bribery is more prevalent in the South than in the North.

These highlights are contained in the summary report on NBS/EFCC Business Survey on Crime and Corruption and Awareness in Nigeria , 2007.

The report, which was made public yesterday in Abuja, is a product of collaboration by the two agencies with the support of the European Union and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The report said in part: "Businesses are often requested to pay bribes by public officials. Overall almost 10% admitted having paid bribe in the year before the survey, while more than 14% didn’t remember or preferred not to answer this question.

"When restricting to businesses which had at least one contact with public officials in the year before the survey, the proportion of those who had to give money increases to 34 per cent.

"The survey also provides information on the nature of bribes and actors involved. Bribes are often paid without a precise goal: among businesses that had to pay a bribe in the year before the survey, some 30 per cent declared they simply could not avoid paying the bribe and another 13 per cent did not know the reason for the payment.

"In other cases, bribery is issued to speed up the procedure (31 per cent) or to have a better treatment (18 per cent).

The survey indicated that corruption is still rampant in the Police Force, Traffic Police, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Water Boards, among revenue officials and Nigerian Customs Service.

The report said: "Among public officials, police personnel were most frequently alleged by respondents (58 per cent) to request the payment of bribes followed by employees of PHCN, Water Boards (39 per cent), revenue officials (26 per cent) as well as Customs (25 per cent)."

In his address, the Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, said the survey is meant to assist policy makers and implementers to reduce corruption in the country.

It will be hard for the Police to leave the No 1 hot spot,they are just good at it.It is a blood thing.

How can they not remain on top of corruption chart when they will ask you for NEPA bills even when they did not supply you light for eight (8) months?.
Police and NEPA remains the two most dangerous organizations in Nigeria.