The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that its corruption survey is aimed at assessing the Federal Government’s fight against corruption.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Semiu Adeniran stated this at the Train the Trainers programme for the Third National Survey on Quality and Integrity of Public Services in Nigeria in Abuja on Monday.
The Survey is the third of its kind with the first two conducted in 2017 and 2019.
Adeniran, represented by the Bureau’s Director of ICT, Mr Biyi Fafunmi, said the training was a significant milestone in efforts to collectively combat the scourge of corruption in Nigeria.
He said corruption had remained a formidable challenge as such the insights gathered would guide the country toward a more transparent and accountable future.
Commitment to improving the quality of public service: He said the outcome of the survey was not to castigate or point fingers at any individual or institution, but to make the necessary commitment to improving the quality of public service available to Nigerians.
Adeniran said the survey focused primarily on understanding the experiences of corruption by Nigerians, rather than perceived corruption whenever they encounter public officials.
Gender and disability: According to him, two new vital modules on gender and disability have been introduced to the instrument in the third round of the survey.
Mr Musa Mohammed, Director of Demography and Household Statistics, NBS, said a test run survey was carried out in Uyo and Nasarawa as a build-up to the main survey.
Mohammed, who is also the Project Director, said the trainers would review the questionnaires to be used for the survey, adding that 30% of the numerators for the exercise were from the NBS.
He said the survey of 2017 and 2019 showed a decline in the prevalence of bribery from 32.3% to 30.2% adding that it’s however at variance with the report of Transparency International.
The National Research Consultant, Prof. Adebisi Adeniran, said that the two previous surveys impacted on policy formulation in Nigeria and expects that the third round would look at trends and patterns of corruption in the country.
Princess Chifiero, Project Officer, Anti-Corruption, UNODC, said the focus was on an experienced-based corruption survey shared by citizens themselves rather than on perception.
She said the survey questionnaires were usually translated into the three Nigerian official languages and Pidgin English with 33,000 interviewers across the 36 states and the FCT.
Chifiero said that bribery refusal, gender dimension, items to measure disability, and items to measure the location of bribery were new additions to the survey.