Employing Toda-Yamamoto Granger causality technique, this study examined the relationship between public governance and corruption in Nigeria during the period, 1996-2022. In line with ex-post facto research design, secondary data (on yearly basis) on governance and corruption were obtained from Worldwide Governance Indicators and Transparency International respectively. The six governance indicators examined are control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability/absence of violence, voice and accountability, rule of law, and regulatory quality, while corruption was measured using corruption perception index. Empirically, this study found that the existence of a unidirectional causality running from control of corruption-to-corruption perception index in Nigeria. This implies that good governance through the instrumentality of control of corruption is germane to stemming the tide of corruption. Likewise, there is a unidirectional causality flow from political stability to corruption perception index in Nigeria which suggests that political stability/absence of violence is instrumental to stemming the tide of corruption. Further evidence from causality test reveals that political stability had a one-way causality to control of corruption in Nigeria, which implies that to reinforce control of corruption as a governance instrument for stemming the tide of corruption; political stability is key. Moreover, voice and accountability, regulatory quality, and rule of law had a unidirectional causality with corruption perception index in Nigeria, thus suggesting the reinforcing role of regulatory quality, rule of law; and voice and accountability in promoting political stability. The study concludes that political stability/absence violence, and control of corruption are vital public governance measures for stemming the tide of corruption in Nigeria, thus indicating the ‘calm-down’ effect of good governance on corruption. It is therefore recommended that Nigerian government should intensify the tools of public governance in terms of control of corruption, and political stability, as well as voice and accountability, regulatory quality, and rule of law, in stemming the tide of corruption in Nigeria.
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