Anti-Corruption Policy and Public Trust in Government in Kogi State

This study investigates the relationship between anti-corruption policy implementation and levels of public trust in state government in Kogi State, assessing whether citizens' perceptions of government accountability affect their confidence in public institutions. Trust in government is a critical resource for democratic governance, enabling the state to mobilise citizen cooperation, legitimate collective decisions, and sustain voluntary compliance with public rules. Using a survey research design, the study administers a structured questionnaire to 420 respondents across four local government areas in Kogi State, measuring their awareness of anti-corruption policies, perceptions of corruption prevalence, and trust in state institutions. The social trust theory and the institutional theory of public trust are applied to analyse the conditions under which anti-corruption policy generates credibility gains for the state. Findings reveal that in Kogi State, awareness of government anti-corruption pronouncements is relatively high, yet public trust in state institutions remains low because citizens perceive a significant gap between policy rhetoric and actual enforcement outcomes. High-profile corruption cases involving state government officials that were not prosecuted are cited by respondents as primary drivers of institutional distrust. The North Central geopolitical context of Kogi State, characterised by resource competition and historical elite capture, shapes the study's findings. Recommendations include transparent prosecution of corruption cases involving government officials, citizen feedback mechanisms for anti-corruption agencies, and community-level governance dialogues that demonstrate accountability in practice. Keywords: anti-corruption policy, public trust, government accountability, Kogi State, institutional legitimacy