Abstract

Author:

Augustine Okon Jacob, Okon Joseph Umoh,Godwin Edet Bassey

Doi: 10.26480/seps.01.2026.23.30

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The critical review provides the synthesis of empirical evidence regarding the economic cost of corruption in Nigeria in the years 2019-2025. The review measures the impact of corruption on the gross domestic product, increases poverty, and increases the cost of doing business with the use of data produced by the United Nations, the World Bank macroeconomic indicators, the PwC modelling, and Transparency International indices and official reports on Nigeria. It also looks into the effect of bribery, oil theft, and misuse of public funds to households and sectors. It evaluates the new anti-corruption measures, such as the digital payment laws, the Oronsaye restructuring of the government services, and the new proposed Asset Recovery Agency. The literature review will be conducted as a narrative methodology based on both primary and secondary sources that were published between 2019 and 2025. The most significant results suggest that the Nigerian 2030 GDP might decline by 37 % due to corruption, the average household paid NGN 8,284 as a bribe, and oil theft cost the nation $7 -10 billion a year. The review ends by concluding that, even though Nigeria has been strengthening the enforcement and embracing digital reforms, the structural drivers, poor institutions, rent￾seeking, and social norms remain. Strong institutions, the Oronsaye reforms, geo-tagging payment systems, improved civic education, and business integrity were some of the recommendations.