An Empirical Investigation of Factors Motivating Corruption in Nigeria: Evidence from selected Public Sector Organisations in Nigeria

The study empirically identified factors motivating corruption in public sector organisations in Nigeria. The main research design was survey research. Six public sector organisations were selected purposively and the population consisted all employees in the organisations under study. The sample size was 400. Questionnaire was the main research instrument and copies were proportionately distributed to all the organisations and returned in useable form. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation with the aid of statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20. The result of the test revealed among others that an increase in the level of ambiguity in rules and regulations in public sector organisations in Nigeria results to a corresponding increase in corruption in public sector organisations in Nigeria. The study concluded that motivation for corruption indicates that there are incentives that are internal and external to the individuals, which influence the dimension and level of corruption in the organisations. It was recommended that formal and informal rules in organisations should not be at odds with one another, should be clear and unambiguous to avoid creating fertile ground for corruption and unfettered access to corruption