ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA: AN EVALUATION OF THE INDEPENDENT CORRUPT PRACTICES AND OTHER RELATED OFFENCES COMMISSION (ICPC)
Abstract
Corruption remains a major challenge to democratic governance, sustainable development, and effective public administration in Nigeria. Despite the establishment of anti-corruption institutions, practices such as bribery, embezzlement, abuse of office, procurement fraud, and illicit financial activities continue to undermine public trust and weaken state institutions. This study evaluated the role of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in implementing anti-corruption policies and promoting democratic governance in Nigeria. Specifically, it examined the Commission’s effectiveness in preventing corruption, enforcing anti-corruption laws, promoting accountability, and strengthening institutional integrity. The study adopted a qualitative research design based on documentary analysis of secondary data drawn from ICPC annual reports, government publications, and policy documents, reports of international organizations, scholarly literature, and credible media sources. Institutional Theory provides the analytical framework, highlighting the importance of institutional capacity, political commitment, legal frameworks, and administrative independence in determining the performance of anti-corruption agencies. The findings show that the ICPC has made notable contributions through corruption prevention programmes, system reviews of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), constituency and executive project monitoring, public education campaigns, asset recovery, and the prosecution of corruption-related offences. However, its effectiveness continues to be constrained by inadequate funding, political interference, judicial delays, weak inter-agency collaboration, limited prosecutorial capacity, and low conviction rates in high-profile cases. While anti-corruption policies have improved transparency and accountability in some areas, their overall impact on democratic governance has been limited by entrenched corruption, weak institutions, and inconsistent political commitment. The study concludes that achieving effective democratic governance requires not only strong anti-corruption institutions but also institutional independence, efficient law enforcement, judicial reform, transparent public financial management, active citizen participation, and sustained political will. It recommends strengthening the operational autonomy, financial capacity, investigative capability, and accountability of the ICPC, alongside closer collaboration with other anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations.