A Theoretical Framework for Understanding the Political Economy of Corruption and Organised Crime Interconnection in Nigeria

Corruption and organised crime are widely acknowledged to be interconnected in Nigeria, with political corruption enabling organised crime networks and organised crime proceeds funding political corruption in recursive cycles, yet no theoretical framework has been constructed to systematically explain this interconnection for the Nigerian political economy context. This study developed an original theoretical framework for understanding the political economy of corruption-organised crime interconnection in Nigeria. A constructive theoretical methodology was employed, drawing on systematic review of 74 publications on Nigerian corruption and organised crime from 2018 to 2024, documentary analysis of EFCC prosecution records, ICPC reports, and published anti-corruption case studies, and structured interviews with 30 stakeholders including anti-corruption investigators, academic criminologists, political economists, and civil society governance specialists. The systematic review confirmed that existing frameworks (principally Europol's organised crime-corruption models and Transparency International's state capture frameworks) inadequately account for the specific Nigerian dynamics of prebendalism (the conversion of public office into personal benefit), informalism of public governance, and the ethnic and religious brokerage dimensions of corruption networks. The original Nigerian Corruption-Organised Crime Political Economy Framework proposes four interconnection mechanisms: prebendal resource diversion to organised crime investment, state infrastructure deployment for organised crime facilitation, impunity purchase through political corruption proceeds, and criminal network legitimisation through political incorporation. Each mechanism is supported with documented Nigerian case evidence. Expert review by 22 corruption and organised crime specialists confirmed the framework's theoretical advance over existing models.

Keywords: political economy, corruption, organised crime, Nigeria, theoretical framework