Issues of Corruption in Construction Projects and Infrastructure Development in Nigeria: An Empirical Approach

Abstract

Corruption is a major problem that ravages many construction and infrastructure development projects in Africa and the world over. In Nigeria, this social menace has severely crept into the activities of the construction industry and is currently affecting the quality of project performance negatively. This paper identified project milestones and their susceptibility to corrupt tendencies at both pre-contract and postcontact stages. It further examined the frequency of occurrence of identified construction corruption sources and assessed the severity of impact of identified construction corruption sources. The methodology used involved descriptive survey and a structured questionnaire was administered to a study population involving major construction industry stakeholders with operations in North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. A total of 120 questionnaires were judgmentally distributed, out of which 100 returned, thus representing 83.33% response rate. Findings of the study revealed that bidding and construction stages ranked highest with 65 and 70 points respectively with regard to corruption susceptibility of project milestones at pre-contract and post-contract stages; while contract fraud and bribery recorded the highest frequency of occurrence of 70 and 65 points respectively among eleven identified construction corruption sources studied. The findings also revealed that contract embezzlement, fraud and cost-cutting ranked most in severity of impact on project performance with 85, 80 and 78 points respectively among other identified sources corruption in Nigeria. The study concluded that corrupt activities in construction project delivery in Nigeria remain a cankerworm that severely affects project performance. The study recommended the institutionalisation of the culture of transparency, good practice, ethical conduct and accountability at all phases of construction project and infrastructure development in Nigeria.