Mental Element of Bribery under Nigerian and Us (Federal) Anti-Bribery Laws: an Overview
Mental Element of Bribery under Nigerian and Us (Federal) Anti-Bribery Laws: an Overview

Summary/Abstract: Academic reviews have highlighted the problem of lack of clarity with Nigerian antibribery laws. It is important for the criminal law to clearly state the mental element of bribery. This would communicate to citizens, lawyers and judges what is wrong with bribery. It would also provide a yardstick to distinguish between the socio-cultural practice of gift-giving and bribery. This article analyses the mental element of bribery in Nigeria and federal anti-bribery laws in United States of America. The analysis is undertaken with a view to drawing useful insight to propose reform of Nigerian anti-bribery laws. The article finds that American laws better clarifies the wrongful mental conduct that transforms gift-giving into bribery. Unlike Nigerian statutes that uses the undefined word “corruptly” to capture the mental element of bribery, American statutes while using the word “corruptly” further captures the mental element of bribery in terms of intention to use a bribe to influence official action. The American approach if adopted by the legislature to reform Nigerian anti-bribery laws would provide better guidance to the courts, lawyers and laymen in understanding why the law criminalises bribery. It would also provide a platform to distinguish between gift-giving and bribery.

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