Ethical Leadership and Project Completion Rates in Nigerian Public Private Partnerships.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as a critical mechanism for addressing Nigeria's infrastructure deficit, yet project completion rates remain persistently low, with many initiatives faltering during implementation or becoming mired in protracted disputes. While extant literature has extensively examined structural, financial, and legal constraints affecting PPP performance, the role of ethical leadership—particularly its influence on project completion rates—has received insufficient scholarly attention. This research addresses this gap by investigating the relationship between ethical leadership practices and PPP project completion outcomes in Nigeria. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates quantitative analysis of PPP project data from 2010–2025 with qualitative interviews of key stakeholders across federal and state PPP initiatives. Findings reveal that ethical leadership—characterised by transparency, accountability, stakeholder engagement, and contractual fidelity—constitutes the most critical success factor for PPP completion, surpassing even financial and technical considerations. The research further identifies that ethical leadership operates through three primary mechanisms: fostering stakeholder trust, ensuring institutional memory across political transitions, and enabling proactive dispute resolution. The study contributes to PPP theory by positioning ethical leadership as a foundational rather than supplementary success factor, challenging conventional frameworks that privilege structural and financial determinants. Practical recommendations include strengthening the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission's enforcement mandate, institutionalising transition protocols for PPP projects, and establishing mandatory ethics benchmarks for public sector PPP negotiators.