In Nigeria, one of the most disturbing questions about public office is no longer simply who should govern, but why some people desperately want to govern in the first place.
For many citizens, public office is supposed to be a position of responsibility — an opportunity to make policies, provide infrastructure, protect public resources and improve people’s lives.
Yet a darker perception has taken root: that some people seek political appointments, elective positions or senior government jobs because they see access to public resources as an opportunity for personal enrichment.
It would be inaccurate to suggest that every Nigerian who seeks public office intends to steal. Thousands of public servants, politicians and government officials perform their duties honestly.
But the persistence of corruption cases, procurement scandals, diversion of public funds and abuse of office has made the question difficult to ignore: has public service in Nigeria become attractive to some people because of what they can take from government rather than what they can contribute to it?
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has now put part of the problem in blunt terms.
EFCC: Public Office Is Not For Self-Enrichment
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede recently identified contract fraud as the most prevalent form of corruption in Nigeria’s public sector.
Speaking during an induction programme for members of the governing board of the South-South Development Commission, Olukoyede warned public officials that government institutions must not be turned into vehicles for personal enrichment.
He said contract fraud frequently involves manipulating procurement processes to favour individuals or preferred companies.
According to him, the practice can include contract splitting to evade approval limits, manipulating bids, awarding contracts to unqualified companies and paying for poorly executed or abandoned projects.
He further listed outright theft of public funds, diversion of resources, bribery, kickbacks, misappropriation, payroll and pension fraud and duty-tour allowance fraud among the forms of corruption affecting the public sector. (Punch Newspapers)
The EFCC chairman’s warning raises a fundamental issue.
If public office is a responsibility to protect national resources, why do government positions continue to attract people who appear more interested in the financial opportunities that come with power?
When Government Becomes A Business Opportunity
One explanation is the enormous control that public officials can exercise over government resources.
A senior official may influence procurement decisions, approve contracts, recommend appointments, control budgets, authorise payments or determine how government programmes are implemented.
Where institutions are weak and accountability is poor, such authority can become an opportunity for abuse.
That is why corruption is not always as simple as someone physically taking money from a government account.
It can happen through an inflated contract.
It can happen through a company secretly connected to an official.
It can happen through payment for a project that was never completed.
It can happen when government property is diverted for private use.
It can happen when a public employee manipulates a digital financial system.
And it can happen when political connections are used to protect people from investigation.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has similarly argued that corruption is broader than simply stealing money. ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu has described corruption as including deviation from established rules and due process. (ICPC)
In other words, corruption can begin before money disappears.
It can begin when officials deliberately manipulate the system to produce a predetermined private benefit.
The Nwabuoku Case
A recent case involving a former acting Accountant-General of the Federation illustrates the enormous sums that can become involved when public financial systems are abused.
On March 23, 2026, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced Chukwunyere Nwabuoku to 72 years in prison after finding him guilty on nine counts of money laundering.
According to a Dataphyte review, the offences were committed between 2019 and 2021 while he was Director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Defence.
He had been arraigned in January 2025, making the conviction one of the relatively faster resolutions among the corruption cases examined by Dataphyte. (dataphyte.com)
The case is significant because the office he occupied was not an ordinary position.
It was a position at the centre of government financial management.
It demonstrates why the integrity of officials who control or influence public finances is critical to national development.
Every naira lost through corruption represents money that cannot be used for something else.
A diverted health allocation could have financed medical supplies.
An inflated road contract could have built a better road.
Money lost through procurement fraud could have supported schools, water projects, security or social welfare.
Even Government Payroll Systems Can Be Exploited
The problem is not restricted to politicians or ministers.
In January 2025, the ICPC announced the conviction of Lukumanu Sani Waziri, an accountant at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, for corruption and abuse of office.
The commission said Waziri diverted more than ₦60 million through unauthorised access to the Government Integrated Financial Information System.
According to the ICPC, he altered financial records and facilitated transfers of government funds into private accounts. The court found him guilty on seven of nine counts and imposed concurrent prison sentences. (ICPC)
This case illustrates another dimension of public-sector corruption: sophisticated financial systems can still be abused when people entrusted with public resources deliberately circumvent controls.
Technology can reduce opportunities for corruption, but it cannot completely eliminate corruption without ethical leadership, institutional controls and effective enforcement.
The Fake Government Agency Scandal
Another recent controversy showed how the weaknesses surrounding government structures can be exploited.
In July 2026, the revelation of a fictitious federal entity known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council triggered widespread scrutiny.
According to reporting by The Guardian, the organisation had been allocated ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 budget and had even been given office space in the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
The case centres on allegations that Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew impersonated government officials and forged documents, including signatures and official references. The presidency said the suspect allegedly misled the Accountant-General’s office into opening accounts for the fictitious organisation.
President Bola Tinubu ordered an investigation, while the matter was also subjected to legal proceedings. (The Guardian)
The case is particularly disturbing because it demonstrates how public institutions can potentially be manipulated by individuals seeking access to government structures and resources.
Importantly, allegations in the case should not be treated as proof of guilt against any person unless established by a court.
But the episode raises an institutional question:
How could a fictitious government entity obtain budgetary allocation and office space without being detected earlier?
The Bigger Problem Is Not Only The Politician
It is tempting to blame politicians alone.
But corruption in Nigeria’s public sector involves a wider network.
The ICPC has observed that large-scale corruption frequently requires cooperation between public officials and private individuals or businesses. Its corruption research has highlighted the role of public-private networks in major corrupt practices. (ICPC)
That means the problem can involve contractors, businessmen, intermediaries, political financiers, civil servants and other actors who benefit when government processes are manipulated.
A corrupt official cannot always steal public money alone.
Someone may need to provide the company.
Someone may have to submit the inflated invoice.
Someone may approve the payment.
Someone may certify that the project has been completed.
Someone may move the money.
And someone may provide political protection.
Corruption therefore becomes an ecosystem rather than an individual act.
Why Do People Still Chase Government Jobs?
The most uncomfortable part of the debate is the social attitude surrounding public office.
In some communities, obtaining a political appointment is treated as a breakthrough not only for the individual but for an entire family and network.
People may expect the appointee to provide jobs, distribute money, finance political supporters and assist relatives.
The expectation can become so strong that an official who refuses to divert public resources may be described as selfish or ineffective.
This creates a dangerous contradiction.
A public servant can enter office with the responsibility to protect public money but leave office under pressure from relatives, political associates and supporters who expect financial rewards.
The result is a culture where public office can become a source of private patronage.
The Politics Of “Our Turn”
Another challenge is the belief that corruption becomes acceptable when someone from one’s political camp is responsible.
A politician accused of stealing public resources may be defended because he is from the person’s ethnic group, state, political party or religious community.
The same people may demand prosecution when the allegation concerns an opponent.
That approach turns anti-corruption into political warfare instead of a national principle.
A society cannot successfully fight corruption if citizens condemn stealing only when the thief belongs to the opposing political camp.
The standard has to be the same regardless of party, region, religion, ethnicity or political status.
The Cost Is Paid By Ordinary Nigerians
The victim of public-sector corruption is ultimately the ordinary citizen.
When public money disappears, government has less money available for development.
The consequences may be visible in a classroom without desks, a hospital without equipment, an unfinished road, a community without clean water or an electricity project that never reaches completion.
The EFCC chairman recently said annual losses to corruption in Nigeria’s public service run into billions of naira and warned that resources intended for infrastructure and social services are often converted to private use. (Punch Newspapers)
The ICPC reported that it recovered ₦37.44 billion and $2.35 million through asset seizures and forfeitures in 2025. The commission also reported investigating 263 cases, filing 61 cases in court and tracking 1,490 public projects. (ICPC)
These figures demonstrate both the scale of the problem and the intensity of the government’s anti-corruption response.
But recovery is not the same as prevention.
Money recovered after it has been stolen does not erase the damage caused while it was missing.
The Problem Of Delayed Justice
Another factor that may encourage corruption is the perception that punishment is uncertain or delayed.
A Dataphyte analysis of 393 corruption cases involving public officials between 2013 and 2026 found that only 144 had reached final judgment, leaving more than 60 per cent still pending.
The cases involved allegations including money laundering, embezzlement, mismanagement of public funds and other forms of corruption.
Dataphyte said the cases collectively involved allegations linked to about ₦3.61 trillion, $1.33 billion and €26,170. (dataphyte.com)
When a corruption case takes many years to conclude, the deterrent effect of prosecution can become weaker.
The message received by society may not be “corruption will be punished”.
It may instead become “corruption can keep you wealthy for years while the case moves slowly through the courts.”
That perception is dangerous.
The Alison-Madueke Case
Nigeria’s corruption problem has also produced high-profile international cases.
Former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is currently facing corruption proceedings in the United Kingdom involving allegations that she accepted bribes connected to the awarding of oil and gas contracts.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors have alleged that she received luxury gifts and other benefits from business figures seeking influence.
Her defence has strongly disputed the allegations, arguing that she did not have the power alleged by prosecutors and that some expenses were connected to official duties. The case therefore remains a matter for the court to determine. (reuters.com)
The significance of such cases goes beyond one individual.
They demonstrate how allegations surrounding Nigeria’s public offices can involve international businesses, foreign properties, financial institutions and courts outside the country.
The Real Question
Perhaps the most important question for Nigeria is not whether corruption exists.
It clearly does.
The more difficult question is why corruption continues to be attractive.
Why would someone spend enormous amounts of money to obtain a political position?
Why would somebody accept an appointment with a modest official salary but expect to emerge from government enormously wealthy?
Why do contractors compete aggressively for public contracts but sometimes spend money trying to influence the people who award them?
Why do citizens celebrate sudden wealth among some public officials without asking where the money came from?
And why are some corrupt officials treated as heroes when they share stolen resources with their communities?
These questions point to a problem that goes beyond individual morality.
Nigeria’s corruption challenge is also institutional and cultural.
Public Office Must Stop Being A Private Investment
One of the most important reforms Nigeria needs is to change the meaning of political power.
Public office must not be regarded as an investment from which a politician expects financial returns.
It must not be a mechanism for recovering the money spent during an election.
It must not be a reward for political loyalty.
It must not be an opportunity to favour friends, relatives or business partners.
And it must certainly not be regarded as a personal bank account.
Government money belongs to the public.
A minister does not own the ministry.
A governor does not own the state’s treasury.
A commissioner does not own the department under his supervision.
A permanent secretary does not own the government account.
An elected representative does not own the public budget.
They are custodians.
And custodians are expected to protect what has been entrusted to them.
Nigerians Also Have A Role
The fight against corruption cannot be left entirely to the EFCC and ICPC.
Citizens also have a role.
People must stop celebrating unexplained wealth simply because the person displaying it is politically connected.
Voters must ask candidates how they intend to finance campaigns, what they own before entering office and what they acquire while serving.
Civil society organisations must continue tracking government projects.
Journalists must investigate suspicious contracts.
Professional bodies must enforce ethical standards.
Auditors must be allowed to do their work.
Procurement processes must be transparent.
And courts must be able to conclude corruption cases without unnecessary delays.
The EFCC has also acknowledged challenges including limited resources, manpower shortages, delays in high-profile cases and concerns about public support for anti-corruption efforts.
A Country Cannot Develop By Looting Its Own Future
The central problem is simple.
Every society needs people who want public office because they want to solve problems.
Nigeria needs leaders who see roads, schools, hospitals, security, electricity, agriculture, jobs and human development as their responsibilities rather than opportunities for private enrichment.
The country cannot build sustainable institutions when public office is treated as a route to personal wealth.
The greatest danger is not merely that one official may steal billions.
It is that an entire generation could begin to believe that stealing from government is simply part of the job.
That is the culture Nigeria must reject.
Public office should be a position of trust, not a jackpot.
Government should not be a business venture for those in power.
And the ultimate test of leadership should not be how much wealth a person accumulates after entering government, but how much public value he or she creates before leaving it.
