Effects of Administrative Corruption on Democratic Governance In Nigeria

Abstract

Administrative corruption has become a major issue sabotaging governance and democratic development in Third World Countries. It is a menace that respects no national boundaries. It distorts socio-political life of the people. In Nigeria, administrative corruption has eroded people’s trust in government because of the persistent increase in inefficiency and ineffective public service delivery. As revealed in the literature, administrative corruption in Nigerian public institutions has made a lot of the nation’s resources mismanaged by the public office holders despite many policy measures put in place to curtail the menace. Sequel to this phenomenon, this paper examined the effect of administrative corruption on democratic governance in Nigeria. Relying on the ex-post approach where literature was surveyed to explain the extent to which administrative corruption impedes the growth of democratic governance in the country. The paper recommends strengthening of the internal control mechanisms to detect cases of administrative corruption in public institutions. It also suggests the creation of pathways to give citizens the relevant tools to engage and participate in governance towards promoting transparency and accountability in the administration of the state.