African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance > List of Issues > Volume 1, Issue 3 >  

Exploring corrupt practices in public sector 

management: the case of Nigeria  

Olatunde Julius Otusanya Related information 

Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, P.O. 

Box 354, Unilag, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria 

Olatunde Julius Otusanya is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Lagos, 

Nigeria. He obtained his Masters and PhD in Accounting from University of Lagos and 

University of Essex, respectively. He has published a number of articles and monographs. His 

research interests include taxation (tax evasion and tax avoidance), financial crime 

(corruption), role of professionals in anti-social practices, and corporate social responsibility. 

He has received several research grants and awards. 

https://doi.org/10.1504/AJAAF.2012.048410 

 

Abstract 

The public sector is that part of economic and administrative life which deals with the 

delivery of goods and services by and for government, whether national, regional or local. 

Socio-political and economic developments in Nigeria have been distorted by high levels of 

corruption conducted and condoned by bureaucrats and by the political elite since its 

independence in 1960. This paper locates bureaucratic anti-social financial practices within a 

structure-agency interaction framework to argue that the inter-relationship between human 

actors and their social context both constrains and enables predatory practices, and it 

considers how this inter-relationship causes these anti-social practices to take place. The 

evidence shows that the involvement of bureaucrats and the political and economic elite in 

corrupt practices in Nigeria is facilitated by poor institutional structures and by a lack of will 

on the part of the Nigerian Government to curb financial crime. The paper also makes 

suggestions for reform. 

Keywords: Keywordsbureaucracy, corruption, structure, agency, discretion, monopoly, 

accountability, management, public sector, Nigeria 
 

http://www.inderscienceonline.com/loi/ajaaf
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/loi/ajaaf
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/toc/ajaaf/1/3
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/author/Otusanya%2C+Olatunde+Julius
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/author/Otusanya%2C+Olatunde+Julius
https://doi.org/10.1504/AJAAF.2012.048410
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Bureaucracy
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Corruption
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Structure
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Agency
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Discretion
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Monopoly
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Accountability
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Management
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Public+Sector
http://www.inderscienceonline.com/keyword/Nigeria