Corruption and Economic Growth: A Case Study of Nigeria
The study looked at the relationship between corruption and economic growth in Nigeria between 1995 and 2019. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria's statistical bulletins, the World Bank's Development Indicators, and Transparency International were used to create the series. The study used Johansen Cointegration and a Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) approaches to estimate the relationship between corruption and economic growth in Nigeria. According to the findings, both corruption (COR) and total employment (TEM) are positively and significantly associated with Gross Domestic Product. A positive association occurred between Government Recurrent Expenditure (GRE) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the research found a significant inverse relationship between Government Capital Expenditure (GCE) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Overall, the results showed that dependent and independent factors had a long-term relationship. In line with the findings, the study recommends that government should step up efforts to reorient the society to do away with corruption by setting high ethical standards to which citizens must strictly comply. In addition, the plundered and stolen funds recovered from corrupt persons should be used prudently for the common good. Keywords: Corruption, Government Capital Expenditure, Gross Domestic Product, and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square.