Perspective Chapter: Corruption and Government’s Response to Emergencies during COVID 19 Pandemic – The Nigerian State Experience

Abstract

Through the years, the COVID-19 epidemic has exacerbated existing socioeconomic and political inequities, causing profound changes in communities all over the world. Africa has seen a significant loss of lives and economic damages across the continent. The study takes a qualitative approach in terms of methodology, with documentary sources being used to obtain and analyze data. The urgency of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the study, necessitated swift flow of public monies, rapid decision-making, and extraordinary public health actions. As a result of making hasty decisions about disbursing funds to respond to emergencies, corruption opportunities arose. The COVID-19’s destructive effects, which have resulted in increased poverty among Nigeria’s most vulnerable people, call into doubt the government’s use of public resources. According to the study, the epidemic has resulted in a significant, quick increase in aid, spending, and procurement, which frequently compromises transparency and accountability. The study exposed that government procurement divisions are rife with corruption, and that fraudulent activities in the purchase of vaccines and medical devices were pervasive throughout the pandemic emergency. The study concludes that strategies for better early identification and handling of fraud and procurement misconduct should be included in future pandemic and economic crisis plans.

1. Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has shrunk the entire globe, wreaking havoc on both local and international economies, instilling distrust among states, halting international travel and hampering socio-cultural connections and human relationships. Every government is currently faced with difficult decisions about what limits to apply and when to lift them, where money will be spent and how it will be raised and what national concerns can be constrained to promote international collaboration [1].

As a result, governments around the world have made collective promises to address public health concerns and governance flaws. The majority of countries throughout the world have taken appropriate steps to counteract the COVID -19 pandemic. On the fiscal front, exceptional tax and spending measures were enacted to save lives, assist individuals and businesses, and pave the way for economic recovery. As a result of the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a total worldwide emergency, and governments all over the world, including the Nigerian government, are working to control their citizens and economies in order to minimize the virus’s impact.

Following the discovery and confirmation of the virus’s spike in Nigeria, the federal government of Nigeria introduced and implemented a number of measures to slow the virus’s spread, including the use of face masks, social distancing, restitution of interstate travel, border closures, lockdowns and the distribution of palliatives to the most affected or vulnerable people. The federal government adopted numerous palliatives to treat the economic, health and psychological repercussions of the pandemic and the lockdown once again in an effort to mitigate the negative effects of the epidemic and the lockdown. Such as a three-month repayment moratorium for all government-funded loans, which includes the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program (GEEP) initiatives and other schemes such as COVID-19 loans for market women, farmers loans and survival funds, among others, all of which are supervised by the central bank and the bank of industry [2]. The GEEP loans were to enable individual to access a loan of N100,000 to N500,000 with just 5% loan charges.

In addition, due to the lockdown, federal government under the ministry of humanitarian and disaster management and social development on 1st April, 2020, announced the provision of food items to vulnerable Nigerians across the 36 states of the federation, and it was officially reported that over 50 billion naira was spent to share food items to most affected people [3]. Also, the CBN gave stimulus packages to different sectors of economy affected by the pandemic. The package was 50 billion Naira credit facilities to support households as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The focus of the paper is the aspect of palliatives and economic stimulus in Nigeria.

However, corruption drains resources away from priorities like public health, social protection and other essential services [1]. It was argued that COVID-19 pandemic has led to big government and fiscal splurges globally, and where there is big government and dramatic expansion of public spending, corruption or misuse of public funds is not further away [4]. In Nigeria for example, there is absolutely no credible evidence of where this money is going; no evidence that the vast majority of poor Nigerians who were locked down at home benefited from the money.

Surprisingly, the government claimed that it had distributed N100 billion to conditional cash transfer recipients in just 1 week. But how many of the ostensibly N20,000 social palliatives were actually given out? COVID-19 was funded largely by corporate donations from businesspeople and philanthropists around the world. In Nigeria, prominent private-sector donors, under the auspices of the Coalition against COVID-19, CA-COVID, have donated N31.5 billion (see Appendix A for more details). These conflicting issues have been exacerbated by the country’s subsequent economic and political weight in responding to the pandemic. The ramifications of corruption on COVID-19 global governments’ responses are examined in this article, with a focus on Nigeria.

2. Conceptual clarifications

2.1 COVID-19

Coronavirus is a disease 2019 is popularly known as COVID-19 is an illness caused by a novel coronavirus now called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was formerly described as 2019-nCov on 11th February, 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) in its 22 situation report officially named the novel virus as COVID-19 [5]. The disease was declared a pandemic by WHO on 11th March, 2020, having met the epidemiological criteria of infecting more than 100,000 people in 100 countries [5]. Yemisi [6] described COVID-19 as a pandemic that has created a global widespread panic posing health, socio-economic and political challenges such as drifting nations’ economies into recession, reducing democratic and participatory governance, reduction in social relations as a result of social distancing and other lockdown policies.

2.2 Corruption

Corruption is described as the use of a public office for personal benefit. Bribery, nepotism and theft of public funds for private benefit are examples of this type of behavior. It is the act of offering or getting advantage through measures that are inconsistent with one’s obligation or others’ rights. The term ‘corruption’ has been defined in a variety of ways by various academics. This is due to the lack of a clear definition of corruption.

2.3 Government response

It specifically refers to national governments around the world implementing a variety of steps in response to COVID-19 outbreaks in this study. These included measures aimed at controlling the virus’s spread (such as mobility restrictions and border closures), as well as measures aimed at mitigating the economic repercussions (such as income support) and health-care-related measures (such as testing policies and contact tracing).

3. Methodology

This chapter is both explorative and contextual, that is qualitative in nature. The qualitative approach was chosen because it allows the researchers to gain insight into the organizational structures and settings, social processes and poignantly underscores the importance of the personal narratives on the lived experiences in Nigeria. The inductive properties of flexibility and amenability available in qualitative methodology allow the researchers to discuss the issue through their personal and lived experiences as Nigerians through acquired knowledge about public policy and governance in Nigeria. In essence, the chapter, which is theoretical in nature, extracts its arguments from documentary sources of data such as legal frameworks and other related policies, journals, textbooks, articles, magazines, dissertations, research reports and relevant materials and publications from the internet related to the study. In its presentation, it attempts to demystify the discourse with relevant results/findings, discussion and conclusions that are largely derived from extant literature on the subject matter.

4. Review of related literature

4.1 Global response to COVID-19 pandemic

As governments throughout the world struggle to offset the economic effects of the coronavirus and protect employment and livelihoods, they have engaged in unprecedented fiscal maneuvering, spending vast sums of money to help businesses, workers and families. For instance, it was indicated that the United States introduced a $2 trillion stimulus package; Germany put aside €656 billion; France budgeted €350 billion and the UK allocated £450 billion, to contain the spike and economic consequences of the pandemic [4]. In the regional context, African states also spend huge resources to alleviate the challenges of COVID-19. By the end of 2020, governments had already mobilized $14 trillion in fiscal policy responses of different types. These included additional spending measures, tax relief programs and loans and loan guarantees—all aimed at funding necessary health services, addressing income losses and keeping economies afloat [7]. It is obvious that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, African government have gained commendation for its rapid action to limit the spread of COVID-19, which may have helped the country avoid, so far, the massive death tolls experienced elsewhere [8, 9, 10]. Many also provided some assistance to help businesses and vulnerable families weather the pandemic [11]. But corruption, lockdowns and other restrictions, often implemented within days of the first recorded COVID-19 cases [12], and sometimes harshly enforced by the police and army, have also drawn criticism and, in some countries, large-scale protests [13, 14].

4.2 Corruption and COVID 19 pandemic: the Nexus

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked crisis management. In several nations, the state of public administration has deteriorated since the outbreak of the coronavirus. Governments have reacted by abusing power, silencing opponents and weakening or shuttering critical institutions, often undermining the very accountability systems essential to protect public health [15].

Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to very significant risks of corruption. Massive resources mobilized to respond to the health and economic crises create opportunities for corruption, while many corruption prevention and enforcement mechanisms are suspended due to the emergency [16]. Indeed, corruption during this time impairs the pandemic response, eroding much-needed public trust, squandering supplies and resources and obstructing their passage to those in need.

COVID-19 hit the world when there is rising inequality and eroding democracy, prompting citizens all across the world to question their governments’ management of public resources. The pandemic’s highly unequal impact, with low-wage informal workers, women and other disadvantaged groups suffering the brunt of the health and economic consequences, risks exacerbating the problem [7]. Unfortunately, many governments have ignored these warnings, putting the effectiveness and impact of their response to the crisis in jeopardy.

It was stressed that corruption is extremely flexible and easily adaptable to new scenarios, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It is generally a major impediment to prosperity and security because it hinders sustainable economic growth, distorts market competition, undermines the rule of law and erodes trust between citizens and governments [17]. In times of emergency and crisis, however, the risk increases that corruption can exacerbate these negative effects, thwarting efforts geared towards a sustainable and resilient recovery. Corruption, therefore, has an even more debilitating effect during a global pandemic, which enormously challenges societies and economies—it becomes a ‘thief of the future’ [18].

UNODC (2020) noted that while corruption is widespread in government procurement departments, fraudulent practices in the procurement of pharmaceuticals and medical devices are particularly prevalent during an emergency. Inevitably, in a crisis situation where medical supplies and equipment are urgently needed and where hospitals to treat and care are being commissioned within tight deadlines, there is an increased risk that abuses will happen, and quality will be sacrificed in exchange for quick action [19].

According to Transparency International [20] the COVID-19 pandemic has required an unprecedented public health response, with governments dedicating massive amounts of resources to their health systems at extraordinary speed. Governments have had to respond quickly to fast-changing contexts, with many competing interests and little in the way of historical precedent to guide them. Transparency here is paramount; publicly available information is critical to reducing the inherent risks of such a situation by ensuring governmental decisions are accountable and by enabling non-governmental expert input into the global vaccination process. In addition, emergency measures precipitated by COVID-19 have led many governments to relax safeguards “by trading compliance, oversight and accountability for speed of response and achievement of rapid impact, thus leading to the creation of significant opportunities for corruption.

In a study conducted by Afrobarometer cited in Seydou [9] Round 8 surveys during the period of October 2020–January 2021 in five West African countries: Benin, Liberia, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The study found out that all the five countries held critical views of their government’s role in managing the pandemic. The study indicated that saying the distribution of government assistance was unfair (71% on average). Resources intended for the COVID-19 response were lost to government corruption (67%). The citizens do not trust official numbers on COVID-19 cases and deaths (62%). They do not also trust the government to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe (68%). They are worried that politicians are using or will use the pandemic to increase their power (58%).

Since the start of the pandemic, several countries have experienced governments breaching procurement laws and regulations. In the UK, for example, the government was accused of awarding secret contracts for PPEs to a single firm without going through a competitive bidding process. Other irregularities included the purchase of unusable face masks from a company that specialized in currency trading and offshore property [19]. Even the World Health Organization has not escaped criticism for mismanaging funds intended for COVID-19. An external audit of WHO released in May found that there were transgressions in the selection of a firm contracted to assist WHO in the procurement of PPEs, and that there was a lack of objectivity in bid evaluation and selection of suppliers of COVID-19 testing kits [19]. Van der Merwe cites a United Nations estimate that 10–25% of all money spent on government procurement globally is lost to corruption even in normal times. But compliance has been spotty. Several countries, including Nigeria—the largest recipient of relief funds, totaling $3.4 billion have set up websites to make spending and contracting data publicly available, but key information is missing, and there are technical issues that frequently limit access to documents (Sheridan, 2021). Among countries that did commit to undertake independent audits, Nigeria included, few have released results. In several African countries, COVID-19 funds have been lost to corruption or mismanagement. Table 1 shows the magnitude of corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic at the global level down to Africa.

Country	Corruption	Report/sources
Myanmar	The IMF transferred $372 million to officials in Naypyidaw just days before the military coup on February 1 to aid in the fight against the virus. However, eight months later, during a news conference, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice stated that the financing was not used to combat COVID-19 and protect the most vulnerable people.	Anrike, Visser (2021). Myanmar’s Missing Millions—The Diplomat https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/myanmars-missing-millions/
Afghanistan	It was reported that 2.6 million Afghan currency was misappropriated in Ghazni COVID-19 fund meant to tackle effect of the virus.	Device Discourse report (2021). https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1791072-26-million
Malawi	A labor minister in connection to the mismanagement COVID-19 funds was a sack. It is reported that the former minister borrowed about US$760 from the COVID-19 funds to use as his allowance when he accompanied Chakwera on his first official visit to South Africa in November last year.	Michael, O. (2021). Africanews https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/25/africa-s-covid-19-corruption-tha
Kenya	There were suspicions that $400 million in public funds allocated for medical equipment was stolen by government officials and companies.; Kenyans were shocked to find in July that a cash transfer program intended to help low-income individuals cope with the economic impact of COVID-19 had failed to do so due to corruption and other irregularities. According to a Human Rights Watch investigation, officials in charge of disbursing the funds regularly disregarded eligibility rules for beneficiaries, and in some cases, steered the monies to relatives or associates who were needed in the coronavirus fight.	Michael, O. (2021). Africanews https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/25/africa-s-covid-19-corruption-tha; Rasna, W. (29 September 2021). Corruption is undermining Kenya’s COVID-19 response. https://www.one.org/africa/blog/corruption-undermining-kenya-covid19-
Nigeria	Nigeria received US$3.4 billion in emergency financial assistance from the IMF in April 2020 to help it respond to COVID-19. Nigeria’s federal government announced a $6 billion stimulus package two months later. According to a poll conducted by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), only 12.5 percent of the poorest quintile of respondents have received food aid since the outbreak began on July 16.	Michael, O. (2021). Africanews.https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/25/africa-s-covid-19-corruption-tha
Uganda	Four top Ugandan government officials were arrested in 2020 after being accused of inflating COVID-19 relief food prices. It is alleged they were arrested for causing the Ugandan government to run at a loss of $528,000.	Michael, O. (2021). Africanews.https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/25/africa-s-covid-19-corruption-tha
South Africa	In South Africa, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) reported on investigations — related to irregularities in COVID-19 procurement — with a total value of 14.2 billion rands (around US$1 billion).	U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre (2021). COVID 19 Corruption in 2021: April – MayDevelopment.(https://medium.com/u4-anti-corruption-resource-centre/covid-19-corrupt).
Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe’s anti-graft police recently recovered around 40 boxes of COVID-19 test kits valued at thousands of dollars, which were stolen from a hospital in Bulawayo.	U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre (2021). COVID 19 Corruption in 2021: April – MayDevelopment.(https://medium.com/u4-anti-corruption-resource-centre/covid-19-corrupt).
Malawi	Malawi faces mismanagement of over 6.2 billion kwacha (about US$8 million) meant for the COVID-19response.	U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre (2021). COVID 19 Corruption in 2021: April – May Development. (https://medium.com/u4-anti-corruption-resource-centre/covid-19-corrupt).
Ghana	The World Bank, the IMF, the Ghana Stabilization Fund, the Contingency Fund of the Stabilization Fund, the Ghana Heritage Fund, Ghana Exim Bank, and the COVID-19 Trust Fund — all of which contributed 12.4 billion cedis (over US$2 billion) to Ghana — were found to be at risk due to irregular procurement practices, according to a report published in Ghana.	U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre (2021). COVID 19 Corruption in 2021: April – May Development. (https://medium.com/u4-anti-corruption-resource-centre/covid-19-corrupt).
Bangladeshi	Large disparities in what the government paid for the Sinopharm vaccination were discovered. A government commission approved the purchase of 15 million doses for US$10 each, while a separate order for 3.15 million doses cost the government US$100 each, prompting suspicions of corruption.	https://www.u4.no/blog/covid-19-corruption-in-2021-may-july-develop
Somalia	According to the Somali auditor general, $17 million in foreign aid was not channeled through the country’s single treasury account. He claims that the government set aside $51 million for the COVID-19 reaction, but only $15 million was used. He cited a lack of a coherent plan to coordinate the government’s reaction, as well as a failure to prepare enough isolation and treatment facilities, as well as a failure to account for $3.9 million in COVID-19 money distributed to areas.	GAROWE ONLINE (2021). A new report reveals millions missing due to corruption in Somalia.; https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/new-report-reveals-mill
Brazil	There was fraud in public tenders in Brazil, as well as misuse of monies intended to combat COVID-19. Between April and November 2020, the Federal Police allegedly arrested 133 people for acts of corruption or misapplication of public resources, as well as contractual fraud, totaling BRL 1.9 billion (approx. USD 400 million). The operations were diverse in terms of size and scope. For example, on May 25, Operation “Placebo” in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro involved governmental contracts worth BRL 835 million (approx. USD 170 million). Meanwhile, on September 29, Operation “S.O.S.” was launched in the state of Pará, involving governmental contracts valued at BRL 500 million (about USD 100 million).	Source: Cooperação Jurídica Internacional em Matéria Penal, Brazil (2020); FATF [21], Update: COVID-19-related Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – Risks and Policy Responses,; FATF, Paris, France,www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/methodandtrends/documents/update-covid-19-ML-TF.html.
Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom and Nigeria	In March, German health authorities fraudulently contracted two companies in Zurich and Hamburg to procure EUR 15 million worth of face masks. The buyers sought new vendors and found an email address and website which appeared to be linked to a company in Spain. Unbeknownst to them, the site was fake and the email addresses on it were compromised.; When the buyers realized they had been duped, they notified their German bank, which contacted INTERPOL’s Financial Crimes unit. Banks, financial intelligence units and legal authorities joined INTERPOL in the inquiry, as did partner organizations Europol and EUROJUST. They were able to freeze EUR 1.5 million and identify the Irish business implicated due to a quick response.; The EUR 880 000 that was moved from a German bank was tracked down by Dutch officials. Almost EUR 500 000 had already been wired to the UK, all of it destined for a Nigerian account.; The authorities have now returned those monies to the Netherlands and frozen them. Two offenders were apprehended and sentenced in the Netherlands as a result of this operation. The two criminals were acting on behalf of the main suspect, who was arrested in Nigeria in August, according to the current findings of the investigations.	Source: Interpol (2020); FATF [21], Update: COVID-19-related Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – Risks and Policy Responses,; FATF, Paris, France,www.fatfgafi.org/publications/methodandtrends/documents/updatecovid-19-ML-TF.html.
Hong Kong, China, Republic; of Korea	During the early phases of the pandemic, when many people were fearful about medical equipment shortages due to COVID- 19, the victim was attempting to obtain surgical masks via an online advertisement on Instagram. The scammer approached the victim and demanded an upfront payment to secure the order. According to the fraudster’s instructions, the victim wired EUR 54 250 to a Korean bank account. The seller then cut off all contact with the victim.; Law enforcement was notified, and the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Hong Kong was notified. In February, INTERPOL Hong Kong requested assistance from INTERPOL Seoul in their investigation. The Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) in each country were also approached for assistance, and they in turn contacted the relevant financial institution. Due to the quick involvement of all parties involved, two perpetrators were apprehended four days after the victim filed the initial report, and the victim’s account was credited in full.	Source: Interpol (2020); FATF [21], Update: COVID-19-related Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – Risks and Policy Responses,; FATF, Paris, France,www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/methodandtrends/documents/update-covid-19-ML-TF.html.
Italy, Indonesia	An Italian corporation was in talks with a Chinese company in May 2020 about buying a big number of medical supplies, including ventilators and COVID-19 monitoring equipment. Individuals with criminal intent hacked into the two companies’ email correspondence and persuaded the Italian buyers to make three bank transactions totaling EUR 3.67 million to an account they controlled in Indonesia. The transfers were made by the Italian company on the premise that this was a reputable supplier. When the Chinese supplier told the Italian victim company that it had not received payment for the medical equipment purchased, the scam was revealed.; Interpol’s Financial Crime Unit was requested via the NCB Rome. Interpol facilitated the connection with Indonesian authorities through its global network. Law enforcement contacted the FIU’s in each jurisdiction and the financial institutions. The interception and freezing of EUR 3.1 million of the fraudulent payments in early June.; Interpol held a virtual case coordination meeting with the key stakeholders in Italy and Indonesia. They worked together to secure the frozen assets and locate the suspects. Indonesian authorities identified the three suspects, who were part of a wider criminal network. Police also seized cash and assets allegedly purchased using the stolen money.	Source: Interpol (2020); FATF [21], Update: COVID-19-related Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – Risks and Policy Responses,; FATF, Paris, France,www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/methodandtrends/documents/update-covid-19-ML-TF.html.
Hong Kong, China	In January 2020, a man claimed to have a big quantity of surgical masks and alcohol sanitizers for sale on several e-commerce sites. More than 200 victims acquired these items locally between January and March 2020, paying for them with cash or electronic funds transfers. The individual’s spouse and associates deposited a total of HKD 1.4 million (USD 180 630) into three Hong Kong bank accounts and four e-wallets.; Victims reported not receiving their items and being unable to contact either of the individuals involved in early March 2020. The money was swiftly removed once victims deposited it in the authorized bank accounts and e-wallets, according to investigations. In April of 2020, four people were detained by law enforcement. Individuals have not been charged as of the time of publishing this story, and the investigation is still ongoing.	Source: Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, Hong Kong, China (2020).
Germany	A German corporation ordered a big quantity of protective masks from a non-EU supplier at the end of February 2020. A large six-digit euro down payment was sent to the vendor in the non-EU country where the property was located (approximately 50 percent of the purchase price). However, there was no delivery. Any attempts to contact the German corporation were met with silence. A law enforcement agency in Germany then made an urgent request to the FIU in Germany.; Following the request, the German FIU quickly issued an information request to the FIU of the non-EU country, along with a request to freeze the funds or block the beneficiary’s account. On the same day, the non-EU country’s FIU froze the cash. The frozen money was reported to the German FIU, and direct communication was established with the German law enforcement agency and the FIU liaison officer stationed there. The public prosecutor’s office then obtained an asset seizure, which was then funneled through the ordinary court procedures through judicial administrative and legal assistance petitions. In addition, the FIU in the non-EU country was notified of the asset seizure.	Source: Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany (2020)
Finland	A private Finnish company sold 3.1 million masks to a Finnish government actor for around EUR 5 million. This corporation, in turn, bought the goods from a Chinese seller. However, shortly after the acquisition, it was discovered that the private Finnish company’s entrepreneur had a shady business past and that the quality of a large portion of the medical equipment delivered was subpar. During standard checks, the FIU identified the suspicious business background. There being a lack of tax reporting, the corporation had outstanding tax bills from previous fiscal years, and it was removed from certain official databases. As an aggravated fraud case, the case is currently being investigated. Authorities have, however, confiscated assets totaling EUR 2.6 million throughout the inquiry.	Source: Financial Intelligence Unit, Finland (2020)
Denmark	With the COVID-19 relief packages, the Danish High Court handed down its first sentence in relation to economic fraud in October 2020. In this case, a 29-year-old man was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months at jail, as well as a claim of almost DKK 1.3 million (EUR 170,000) for attempting to gain unreasonable compensation for fictitious employment in his company. The total amount of compensation sought was DKK 427,500. (EUR 57,500). The application was thoroughly investigated by the Danish Business Authority. As a result, the funds were never approved, and the business was reported to the Danish authorities.	Source: The Danish Business Authority (2020)
Malaysia	During the COVID-19 pandemic , FIU Malaysia received a request for information from a European country (Country A) regarding a possible facemask scam. A government agency in Country A remitted approximately EUR 5 million to Company ABC, a company in Country A, for the purchase of facemasks from Country B. Only a portion of the facemasks was delivered, and all of them were deemed to be inappropriate for hospital use. Company ABC may have moved a considerable amount of money meant for facemask purchase to another entity, notably Company XYZ in Malaysia, according to financial information acquired by Country A.; Further investigation of the company account revealed an inward remittance received by Company XYZ from an entity in Country C, along with transaction notes that could imply facemask transactions. On the same day, another substantial chunk of money in the amount of USD 150,000 was received from Company DEF, a company in Country A that is suspected of selling healthcare equipment such as gloves, goggles and hearing protection. It was discovered that the cash received by firm XYZ were dispersed to numerous organizations in Country C and Country D.	Source: Financial Intelligence Unit, Malaysia (2020)
Spain	The Spanish National Police disrupted a criminal organization in April 2020 that attempted to get state subsidies for businesses and employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic crisis by fabricating and utilizing fraudulent documentation. Members of the criminal organization had formed roughly 50 companies with no employees, no activity and no turnover in the previous years. Under the guise of bogus employees of those enterprises, the group created and utilized phony documents in order to collect tax benefits, as well as subsidies from the social security system and other public stimulus initiatives. Prior to the COVID-19 economic stimulus measures, some members of the criminal group were focused on generating and selling phony employment contracts for foreign people in order to obtain subsidies for them.; During the operation, the members of the organization were arrested, a large number of documents were seized as well as approximately EUR 15,000 in cash, and no stimulus measures were provided to them by the administration.	Source: Financial Intelligence Unit, Spain (2020)
Switzerland	A financial institution in mid-June 2020 gave a building company a COVID-19 loan worth roughly CHF 90 000 (EUR 98 500). The financial institution was notified a few days later that the same company had applied for a second loan from a different financial institution. Meanwhile, the majority of the original loan was withdrawn in cash or used for everyday living expenditures. As a result, the financial institution submitted a suspicious activity report to the Swiss Financial Intelligence Unit. The case has been referred to the Swiss authorities, who are currently conducting criminal investigations.	Source: Federal Department of Finance. Switzerland (2020)

Table 1.

List of countries involved in corruption during COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Authors’ Compilation, 2021.

5. Nigerian government response to COVID-19 pandemic: the bad and good experience

Following confirmation of the pandemic’s spread in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, the government adopted a variety of tactics and strategies to protect civilians from the outbreak. Preventive measures included the following:

5.1 Public enlightenment on surveillance and temperature screening

It was reported that the NCDC released guidance to the public on the causes, symptoms and preventive measures of the novel COVID-19 after noting the arrival of the index case by an Italian male in Lagos state. Surveillance and screening of persons were deployed quickly at all hotspots, such as large gathering sites and airports [22].

5.2 Tracing the contact of victims

The federal government mandated that all those having a history of foreign travels should be traced and subsequently quarantined for 14 days in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The containment during the lockdown was enabled with the identification, tracing and isolation of individuals who contracted the virus.

5.3 Closure of national borders

To combat the virus’s spread, Nigeria’s federal government shut down international and domestic airports, as well as other entrance sites such as frontiers and seaports. There were also restrictions on movement, with the government issuing a nationwide prohibition on interstate travel and a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. With the exception of transits of critical products and services, all inter-state movements [23].

5.4 Banned from social gathering

To further reduce the virus’s spread, the federal authorities made the bold decision to prohibit all forms of social gathering. Churches, mosques, bars, theaters and sporting events with large crowds were all prohibited. Physical gatherings in cemeteries, weddings and restaurants were also restricted. Again, public employees in grades twelve and lower were prohibited from entering offices [24].

5.5 Mandatory use of facemasks

Another measure taken by the Nigerian government was the compulsory use of facemask by everyone in public places. Starting from 4th May, 2020, it was mandated that people should wear facemasks in all outings and it was very serious in states like Lagos, FCT and Ogun where the spike was very high.

5.6 Economic stimulus packages

According to the federal government of Nigeria, it will require $330 million to procure medical equipment, personal protective equipment and medicines for COVID-19 control. The government has committed to investing some of this amount, and financial commitments were also made by private, bilateral and multilateral institutions to raise the remaining funds. The Nigerian state oil company has pledged $30 million for the government’s COVID-19 efforts. The European Union has contributed 50 million euros to the basket fund to strengthen the Nigerian COVID-19 response. In addition, the private sector in Nigeria, after being called upon by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, established the coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID). It was launched on March 26, 2020, to help the government to control COVID-19 in Nigeria. CACOVID has raised over $72 million, which will be used for the purchase of food relief materials and to provide medical facilities and equipment in different regions of the country [3]. On topmost of all this, corruption’s impact continues to appear over Nigeria’s pandemic responses, threatening progress to counter its spread.

5.7 Conditional cash transfers

According to Dixit et al. [25] on April 1, 2020, the Nigerian government announced the transfer of 20,000 Naira ($52) to poor and vulnerable households registered in the National Social Register (NSR). Initially, the NSR has only 2.6 million households (about 11 million people) registered on its platform. The government increased this to 3.6 million households during the COVID-19 crisis. However, it was argued that the cash payments by the federal government only reached only a fraction of poor. Besides, Nigeria does not have a robust national information management system, making electronic payments difficult. This has resulted in many people in the NSR not receiving the money promised by the government. But people need a Bank Verification Number (BVN) to open a bank account, and obtaining a BVN requires a valid national ID or international passport, which many Nigerians do not have. Currently, only about 40 percent of the Nigerian population has bank accounts.

5.8 International Donor Agencies and Central Bank of Nigeria stimulus packages

The IMF approved US$3.4 billion in emergency financial assistance under the rapid financing instrument on the eve of the epidemic in Nigeria to support the authorities’ efforts to confront the severe economic impact of the COVID-19 shock and the rapid drop in oil prices [18]. The IMF’s emergency fund was to assist the Nigerian government deal with the economic effects of the pandemic. In addition, the Nigerian government borrowed $4.34 billion from the domestic stock market to finance its budget in order to ameliorate the macroeconomic situation caused by the abrupt drop in oil prices.

In addition, the European Union has pledged a payment of 50 million euros (N21 billion) to help Nigeria conduct a coordinated response to the COVID-19 epidemic. The funds were intended to be used to achieve the following objectives; Procurement of equipment and supplies needed to respond to the outbreak quickly, including those needed for surveillance, prevention and control, as well as clinical management (portable ventilators, surgical masks, examination gloves, protective goggles, gowns, and PCR test kits, among other things) [26].

Similarly, as the pandemic began to hit Nigeria in mid-March, 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a N1 trillion stimulus package, and then the Federal Government asked the National Assembly to approve a N500 billion intervention fund; it also withdrew $150 million from the Sovereign Wealth Fund and indicated it would borrow $6.9 billion—all to cushion the economic effect of COVID-19 [27]. The CBN’s stimulus package offers a credit of 3 million Naira to poor families impacted by COVID-19.

The loan, however, demands security and does not come with no interest. Poor households might be given loans without having to put up any security, or they could be given loans with only signed pledges from community leaders. Low-interest loans with a long moratorium and payback time should be accessible. Furthermore, few disadvantaged people and enterprises in the informal sector are aware of the government’s offered economic packages and policies. The government, through the CBN, once again urged the private sector and local benefactors to fund the government’s COVID-19 interventions, as well as to launch their own.

As a result, in March 2020, the commercial sector joined forces with the CBN to form The Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) [28]. The CBN is holding funds from this effort in a private-sector-led COVID-19 Relief Fund [27]. CACOVID has raised about $30.1 billion ($72 million) as of the end of June 2020 (Coalition Against COVID-19, 2020), although it is still short of the aim of 120 billion dollars ($310 million). This demonstrates the limitations of local (private sector-led) government intervention funds.

5.9 Food security

Following President Buhari’s declaration of a state of emergency in Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory and Ogun on April 1, 2020, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development announced that food rations would be provided to vulnerable households in these states. People in many parts of the country are going hungry as a result of the prolonged shutdown. The government has been unable to offer food assistance to everyone who requires it due to corruption and a lack of transparency in the distribution system [25]. Food aid (palliatives) to disadvantaged households around the country to counteract the impacts of the lockdown, which had resulted in increasing hunger in many parts of the country. While these social interventions had some success, they were hampered by corruption and a lack of transparency and accountability [25].

To this effect, one may argue that the Nigerian government has received a large sum of money in loans and grants from the commencement of the epidemic to address the health and economic effects of COVID-19. However, the public continues to have concerns about the government’s lack of openness and accountability in raising and spending cash. Indeed, it is worth noting that information on how money from the Nigeria COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund was allocated and utilized, as well as disaggregated data on COVID-19 budget allocations, is lacking. This is not unique to Nigeria; several governments have taken advantage of the pandemic to raise significant sums of money fast, often to close tax gaps.

The Nigerian government has been unable to defend how this money was used, making it impossible for oversight authorities such as the National Assembly, anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations to hold it accountable. Indeed, the palliatives were allocated unequally, and a significant portion of the COVID-19 response budget was lost to corruption. The majority of Nigerians clearly do not trust their governments to provide accurate COVID-19 case and mortality statistics or to assure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe.

Furthermore, covid-19 vaccinations are currently being thrown away by governments around the world. In Nigeria, vaccine deployment has been delayed, owing in part to government mismanagement. Nearly one million doses had expired in the country as of December 22, implying that barely 2% of the country’s population of over 200 million had been completely vaccinated [3]. These failures, combined with suspected corruption scandals since the pandemic began, are fueling public outrage.

6. Conclusion

First and foremost, efforts to hold governments responsible for the success of their crisis response are hampered by a chronic absence of public information on policy execution. Only a handful of governments secured access to appropriate levels of reporting, while over half of the governments questioned disclosed little or no information on actual plans, spending, finance and performance. When it comes to reporting on the impact of policies on different groups of beneficiaries, transparency is especially lacking. Indeed, the value of making such data public, claiming that it would allow ordinary citizens, civic society and the media to bring an extra layer of scrutiny to the use of public resources, further entrenching transparency and accountability in government financial management. The lack of proper information on the execution of COVID-19 response plans further undermines accountability—not just on the amount of money spent but also on the actual impact on more disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, such as women and people living in poverty. Governments already had much of the essential data at their disposal and had plenty of time to ensure it was published in a timely manner, so the lack of public implementation information is particularly concerning.

7. Recommendations

1. The government must strengthen the food rationing system’s transparency and accountability. It should also ensure that middlemen do not have an undue amount of power. During food distribution, the government might adopt the house marking technique used in the polio campaign (in which houses visited by vaccinators are marked), i.e., placing a mark on those houses where food has been delivered.

2. Nigerian governments, through institutions such as the National Assembly and other anti-corruption authorities, including civil society organizations, should establish the transparency and accountability mechanisms required to ensure that the huge resources being mobilized are not wasted.

A. List of contributors to the CACOVID Relief Fund as at 30 June 2020

S/N	Name	Company	Amount (Naira)
1	CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA	CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA	2,000,000,000.00
2	ALIKO DANGOTE	DANGOTE INDUSTRIES LIMITED	2,000,000,000.00
3	FLOOD RELIEF FUND	PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON FLOOD RELIEF AND REHABILITATION	1,500,000,000.00
4	ABDULSAMAD RABIU	BUA SUGAR REFINERY LIMITED	1,000,000,000.00
5	FEMI OTEDOLA	AMPERION POWER DISTRIBUTION LTD	1,000,000,000.00
6	HERBERT WIGWE	ACCESS BANK PLC	1,000,000,000.00
7	JIM OVIA	ZENITH BANK PLC	1,000,000,000.00
8	JOHN COUMANTATOUS	FLOUR MILLS OF NIGERIA PLC	1,000,000,000.00
9	MIKE ADENUGA	MIKE ADENUGA FOUNDATION	1,000,000,000.00
10	MODUPE & FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA	FAMFA OIL LIMITED	1,000,000,000.00
11	MTN NIGERIA PLC	MTN NIGERA PLC	1,000,000,000.00
12	NDIC	NIGERIA DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION	1,000,000,000.00
13	OBA OTEDEKO	FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA	1,000,000,000.00
14	RAJ GUPTA	AFRICAN STEEL MILLS NIG. LTD	1,000,000,000.00
15	SEGUN AGBAJE	GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC	1,000,000,000.00
16	TONY ELUMELU	UNITED BANK OF AFRICA	1,000,000,000.00
17	OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED	OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED	600,000,000.00
18	INDORAMA ELEME FERTILIZER CHEMICAL	INDORAMA ELEME FERTILIZER CHEMICAL	550,000,000.00
19	UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC	UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC	500,000,338.75
20	BANK OF INDUSTRY	BANK OF INDUSTRY	500,000,000.00
21	DEJI ADELEKE	PACIFIC HOLDING LIMITED	500,000,000.00
22	FRIESLAND CAMPINA WAMCO	FRIESLAND CAMPINA WAMCO	500,000,000.00
23	RAHUL SAVARA	WACOT RICE LIMITED	500,000,000.00
24	TOLARAM AFRICA ENTERPRISE LTD	TOLARAM AFRICA ENTERPRISE LTD	500,000,000.00
25	DE UNITED	DE UNITED	500,000,000.00
26	RAMESH KASANGRA	NIPCO PLC	300,000,000.00
27	AFRICA FINANCE CORPORATION	AFRICA FINANCE CORPORATION	250,000,000.00
28	CITIBANK NIGERIA LTD	CITIBANK NIGERIA LTD	250,000,000.00
29	ECOBANK PLC	ECOBANK PLC	250,000,000.00
30	FCMB	FCMB	250,000,000.00
31	FIDELITY BANK PLC	FIDELITY BANK PLC	250,000,000.00
32	STANBIC IBTC	STANBIC IBTC	250,000,000.00
33	STANDARD CHARTERED BANK	STANDARD CHARTERED BANK	250,000,000.00
34	STERLING BANK PLC	STERLING BANK PLC	250,000,000.00
35	UNION BANK PLC	UNION BANK PLC	250,000,000.00
36	GILBERT CHAGOURY	GILBERT CHAGOURY	250,000,000.00
37	RONALD RAMEZ CHAGOURY	RONALD RAMEZ CHAGOURY	250,000,000.00
38	MULTICHOICE NIGERIA LIMITED	MULTICHOICE NIGERIA LIMITED	200,000,000.00
39	PROMASIDOR NIGERIA LTD	PROMASIDOR NIGERIA LTD	200,000,000.00
40	APM TERMINALS APAPA LIMITED	APM TERMINALS APAPA LIMITED	150,000,000.00
41	CORONATION MERCHANT BANK	CORONATION MERCHANT BANK	100,000,000.00
42	FBN MERCHANT BANK	FBN MERCHANT BANK	100,000,000.00
43	FSDH	FSDH	100,000,000.00
44	HERITAGE BANK	HERITAGE BANK	100,000,000.00
45	KC GAMING NETWORKS LTD	KC GAMING NETWORKS LTD	100,000,000.00
46	KEYSTONE BANK	KEYSTONE BANK	100,000,000.00
47	NOVA MERCHANT BANK	NOVA MERCHANT BANK	100,000,000.00
48	POLARIS BANK	POLARIS BANK	100,000,000.00
49	PORTS AND TERMINAL MULTISERV LTD	PORTS AND TERMINAL MULTISERV LTD	100,000,000.00
50	PROVIDUS BANK	PROVIDUS BANK	100,000,000.00
51	RAND MERCHANT BANK	RAND MERCHANT BANK	100,000,000.00
52	SUNTRUST BANK	SUNTRUST BANK	100,000,000.00
53	UNITY BANK	UNITY BANK	100,000,000.00
54	WEMA BANK	WEMA BANK	100,000,000.00
55	DEVELOPMENT BANK OF NIGERIA	DEVELOPMENT BANK OF NIGERIA	100,000,000.00
56	TIN-CAN ISLAND TERM LTD	TIN-CAN ISLAND TERM LTD	100,000,000.00
57	FPCNL PENOP AFIS ESCROW ACCT	FPCNL PENOP AFIS ESCROW ACCT	100,000,000.00
58	UAC	UAC	99,999,838.75
59	FIVE STAR LOGISTICS LIMITED	FIVE STAR LOGISTICS LIMITED	75,000,000.00
60	PORTS AND CARGO HANDLING SERV	PORTS AND CARGO HANDLING SERV	75,000,000.00
61	ENL CONSORTIUM	ENL CONSORTIUM	70,000,000.00
62	JOSEPDAM PORTS SERVICES NIG	JOSEPDAM PORTS SERVICES NIG	60,000,000.00