Analysis of Oil Revenue and Economic Corruption in Nigeria

Abstract

Corruption is a pressing issue in Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari launched an anti-corruption drive after taking office in May, 2015. Corruption affects public finances, business investment as well as standard of living. Recent corruption scandals have highlighted the large sums that have been stolen and/or misappropriated. But little has been done to explore the dynamic effects of corruption as it affect the long run capacity of the country to achieve its potential. Economic corruption is a challenge internationally. To deal with it, we must investigate its causes. To do this, data from Nigeria for the period 1974-2012. It is revealed in the study that oil revenue and economic corruption in Nigeria are related. The study show that a 1% increase in oil revenue increase bribery, embezzlement and forgery in Nigeria by 15-43%. The study policies implications will be to enhance ways of reducing corruption and poverty so that the level of economic growth can be encouraging. That is the activities of the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and related Offences Commission (ICPC) should be strengthened.