**2. Conceptual clarifications**

#### **2.1 COVID-19**

Coronavirus is a disease 2019 is popularly known as COVID-19 is an illness caused by a novel coronavirus now called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was formerly described as 2019-nCov on 11th February, 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) in its 22 situation report officially named the novel virus as COVID-19 [5]. The disease was declared a pandemic by WHO on 11th March, 2020, having met the epidemiological criteria of infecting more than 100,000 people in 100 countries [5]. Yemisi [6] described COVID-19 as a pandemic that has created a global widespread panic posing health, socio-economic and political challenges such as drifting nations' economies into recession, reducing democratic and participatory governance, reduction in social relations as a result of social distancing and other lockdown policies.

#### **2.2 Corruption**

Corruption is described as the use of a public office for personal benefit. Bribery, nepotism and theft of public funds for private benefit are examples of this type of behavior. It is the act of offering or getting advantage through measures that are inconsistent with one's obligation or others' rights. The term 'corruption' has been defined in a variety of ways by various academics. This is due to the lack of a clear definition of corruption.

#### **2.3 Government response**

It specifically refers to national governments around the world implementing a variety of steps in response to COVID-19 outbreaks in this study. These included measures aimed at controlling the virus's spread (such as mobility restrictions and border closures), as well as measures aimed at mitigating the economic repercussions (such as income support) and health-care-related measures (such as testing policies and contact tracing).

## **3. Methodology**

This chapter is both explorative and contextual, that is qualitative in nature. The qualitative approach was chosen because it allows the researchers to gain insight into the organizational structures and settings, social processes and poignantly underscores the importance of the personal narratives on the lived experiences in Nigeria. The inductive properties of flexibility and amenability available in qualitative methodology allow the researchers to discuss the issue through their personal and lived experiences as Nigerians through acquired knowledge about public policy and governance in Nigeria. In essence, the chapter, which is theoretical in nature, extracts its arguments from documentary sources of data such as legal frameworks and other related policies, journals, textbooks, articles, magazines, dissertations, research reports and relevant materials and publications from the internet related to the study. In its presentation, it attempts to demystify the discourse with relevant results/findings, discussion and conclusions that are largely derived from extant literature on the subject matter.

## **4. Review of related literature**

#### **4.1 Global response to COVID-19 pandemic**

As governments throughout the world struggle to offset the economic effects of the coronavirus and protect employment and livelihoods, they have engaged in unprecedented fiscal maneuvering, spending vast sums of money to help businesses, workers and families. For instance, it was indicated that the United States introduced a \$2 trillion stimulus package; Germany put aside €656 billion; France budgeted €350 billion and the UK allocated £450 billion, to contain the spike and economic consequences of the pandemic [4]. In the regional context, African states also spend huge resources to alleviate the challenges of COVID-19. By the end of 2020, governments had already mobilized \$14 trillion in fiscal policy responses of different types. These included additional spending measures, tax relief programs and loans and loan guarantees—all aimed at funding necessary health services, addressing income losses and keeping economies afloat [7]. It is obvious that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, African government have gained commendation for its rapid action to limit the spread of COVID-19, which may have helped the country avoid, so far, the massive death tolls experienced elsewhere [8–10]. Many also provided some assistance to help businesses and vulnerable families weather the pandemic [11]. But corruption, lockdowns and other restrictions, often implemented within days of the first recorded COVID-19 cases [12], and sometimes harshly enforced by the police and army, have also drawn criticism and, in some countries, large-scale protests [13, 14].

#### **4.2 Corruption and COVID 19 pandemic: the Nexus**

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked crisis management. In several nations, the state of public administration has deteriorated since the outbreak of the coronavirus. Governments have reacted by abusing power, silencing opponents and weakening or shuttering critical institutions, often undermining the very accountability systems essential to protect public health [15].

Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to very significant risks of corruption. Massive resources mobilized to respond to the health and economic crises create opportunities for corruption, while many corruption prevention and enforcement mechanisms are suspended due to the emergency [16]. Indeed, corruption during this time impairs the pandemic response, eroding much-needed public trust, squandering supplies and resources and obstructing their passage to those in need.

COVID-19 hit the world when there is rising inequality and eroding democracy, prompting citizens all across the world to question their governments' management of public resources. The pandemic's highly unequal impact, with low-wage informal workers, women and other disadvantaged groups suffering the brunt of the health and economic consequences, risks exacerbating the problem [7]. Unfortunately, many governments have ignored these warnings, putting the effectiveness and impact of their response to the crisis in jeopardy.

It was stressed that corruption is extremely flexible and easily adaptable to new scenarios, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It is generally a major impediment to prosperity and security because it hinders sustainable economic growth, distorts market competition, undermines the rule of law and erodes trust between citizens and governments [17]. In times of emergency and crisis, however, the risk increases that corruption can exacerbate these negative effects, thwarting efforts geared

towards a sustainable and resilient recovery. Corruption, therefore, has an even more debilitating effect during a *global* pandemic, which enormously challenges societies and economies—it becomes a 'thief of the future' [18].

UNODC (2020) noted that while corruption is widespread in government procurement departments, fraudulent practices in the procurement of pharmaceuticals and medical devices are particularly prevalent during an emergency. Inevitably, in a crisis situation where medical supplies and equipment are urgently needed and where hospitals to treat and care are being commissioned within tight deadlines, there is an increased risk that abuses will happen, and quality will be sacrificed in exchange for quick action [19].

According to Transparency International [20] the COVID-19 pandemic has required an unprecedented public health response, with governments dedicating massive amounts of resources to their health systems at extraordinary speed. Governments have had to respond quickly to fast-changing contexts, with many competing interests and little in the way of historical precedent to guide them. Transparency here is paramount; publicly available information is critical to reducing the inherent risks of such a situation by ensuring governmental decisions are accountable and by enabling non-governmental expert input into the global vaccination process. In addition, emergency measures precipitated by COVID-19 have led many governments to relax safeguards "by trading compliance, oversight and accountability for speed of response and achievement of rapid impact, thus leading to the creation of significant opportunities for corruption.

In a study conducted by Afrobarometer cited in Seydou [9] Round 8 surveys during the period of October 2020–January 2021 in five West African countries: Benin, Liberia, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The study found out that all the five countries held critical views of their government's role in managing the pandemic. The study indicated that saying the distribution of government assistance was unfair (71% on average). Resources intended for the COVID-19 response were lost to government corruption (67%). The citizens do not trust official numbers on COVID-19 cases and deaths (62%). They do not also trust the government to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe (68%). They are worried that politicians are using or will use the pandemic to increase their power (58%).

Since the start of the pandemic, several countries have experienced governments breaching procurement laws and regulations. In the UK, for example, the government was accused of awarding secret contracts for PPEs to a single firm without going through a competitive bidding process. Other irregularities included the purchase of unusable face masks from a company that specialized in currency trading and offshore property [19]. Even the World Health Organization has not escaped criticism for mismanaging funds intended for COVID-19. An external audit of WHO released in May found that there were transgressions in the selection of a firm contracted to assist WHO in the procurement of PPEs, and that there was a lack of objectivity in bid evaluation and selection of suppliers of COVID-19 testing kits [19]. Van der Merwe cites a United Nations estimate that 10–25% of all money spent on government procurement globally is lost to corruption even in normal times. But compliance has been spotty. Several countries, including Nigeria—the largest recipient of relief funds, totaling \$3.4 billion have set up websites to make spending and contracting data publicly available, but key information is missing, and there are technical issues that frequently limit access to documents (Sheridan, 2021). Among countries that did commit to undertake independent audits, Nigeria included, few have released results. In several African countries, COVID-19 funds have been lost






#### **Table 1.**

*List of countries involved in corruption during COVID-19 pandemic.*

to corruption or mismanagement. **Table 1** shows the magnitude of corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic at the global level down to Africa.
