Abstract:
After decades of political independence, corruption in Nigeria has continued to manifest in various forms which include corrupt government institutions, police extortion, money politics, and embezzlement of public funds without serious prosecution. Specifically, this seminar paper examined how bureaucratic corruption in Nigeria has affected Nigeria's political development in the specific areas of political stability, transparency, electoral processes, bureaucracy, security and legitimacy of government. The paper used qualitative and descriptive methods. It strictly relied on data gathered from secondary sources such as materials. The Elite theory served as a theoretical framework. Among other findings, the study established that bureaucratic corruption in Nigeria has significant negative effect on Nigeria's political development in the reviewed years. Thus, the paper recommended an urgent need for Nigerian government to come up with strict policy measures; such as total forfeiture of properties corruptly acquired and life imprisonment of any government official found guilty of bureaucratic corruption. In addition, there should be enough funding for the anti-corruption agencies, such as the EFCC and ICPC in the course of carrying out their constitutional duties. These will enable them to investigate corruption cases independently and effectively.
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