Nigeria has recently renewed efforts towards stamping out corruption in every area of its national life. Given that construction procurement is particularly prone to corrupt practices, this study investigated the prevalence of unethical tendering practices in the Nigerian public sector. In particular, a comparison to bare the similarities or differences in the prevalence of unethical tendering practices at national and subnational levels is scarcely available in literature. This study’s objective was to determine and compare the prevalence of unethical tendering practices at the national and subnational levels in Nigeria. The data analysis was based on 120 acceptably filled questionnaires obtained from contractor, client and consultant organisations previously involved in public sector projects. The unethical tendering practices were analysed using prevalence indices and Mann–Whitney U tests. Findings include that the three most prevalent unethical tendering practices are contractor-based, namely: (1) competitors offer bribes to gain access to confidential tendering information (C1); (2) competitors overstate their capacity, experience and qualifications to secure construction contracts (C2); (3) the same owner(s) use different firms to tender for the same project (C3), in descending order of prevalence. No significant difference exists between unethical tendering practices in federal and state government projects. The findings of the study will help the Nigerian government and other stakeholders to better understand unethical practices at the tender stage of construction procurement in the public sector and to evolve better strategies for dealing with them. The study contributes to existing knowledge by separately identifying the prevalent unethical tendering practices in the Nigerian context and comparing unethical tendering practices at national and subnational levels within a country

Purpose In developing countries, governance structures are reputed to be weak, and infrastructure procurement is largely achieved through public sector financing. This study aims to examine the impact of governance quality on public sector infrastructure procurement in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach Data on public infrastructure expenditure (CAPEX), revenue (REV) and debt burden (DEBT) were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the period 2000–2017. In addition, the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Nigeria for the period was obtained from Transparency International. Data were analysed using Ordinary Least Square regression and Granger Causality Test. Findings Results indicate that CPI and DEBT have negative effects on public infrastructure procurement, whereas REV has a significant positive impact. The findings suggest that an increase in public sector corruption leads to increase in the share of public budget allocated to infrastructure procurement. Moreover, an increase in the amount allocated to debt burden lowers the share of public resources available for infrastructure procurement. Findings also show that revenue is a leading indicator of infrastructure procurement, and public expenditure for infrastructure procurement is leading cause of public sector corruption. Social implications In Nigeria, resources for financing infrastructure are scarce, and there have been reports of poor governance in infrastructure procurement. The establishment of a relationship between governance quality and infrastructure procurement will help in more efficient allocation of scarce public resources. Originality/value To resolve the governance-infrastructure question, the study established causal relationships between governance quality variables and public expenditure on infrastructure.

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