Corruption and Service delivery in Nigeria's Civil Service. A study of Akwa Ibom state Ministry of Finance

This study examined the effect of selected corrupt practices on service delivery in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service. The study specifically examined the effects of payment of unofficial gratification on the timeliness and accessibility of service delivery; favoritism in recruitment, promotion and allocation of official opportunities on the efficiency and quality of service delivery; and unauthorized use of government resources on the efficiency and quality of service delivery. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised 312 eligible employees, from which a sample of 175 respondents was drawn using the Krejcie and Morgan table. The study adopted a stratified sampling technique, while data were collected through a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that payment of unofficial gratification significantly affected the timeliness and accessibility of service delivery, with a calculated chi-square value of 654.17, which was greater than the critical value of 7.815. The study also found that favoritism in recruitment, promotion and allocation of official opportunities significantly affected the efficiency and quality of service delivery. Furthermore, unauthorized use of government resources significantly affected the efficiency and quality of service delivery, with a calculated chi-square value of 662.49, which exceeded the critical value of 7.815. Consequently, the three null hypotheses were rejected. The study concluded that the selected corrupt practices had significant negative implications for effective service delivery in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service. The study recommended stronger monitoring and accountability mechanisms to reduce unofficial gratification, strict adherence to merit-based recruitment and promotion, and improved internal control systems to prevent the unauthorized use of government resources.