PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF EFCC ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE IN GOMBE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF GOMBE STATE

In Nigeria, corruption is a lucrative and dangerous threat where a mere imprisonment alone is never enough to deter the perpetrators. Other issues such as the president’s body language as well as the magnitude of punishment for offender are a factor. According to the National Bureau of Statistics corruption charges in Nigeria isestimated at about 4.6 billion naira, confirming the deterioration of Perceptions Index of Transparency International Corruption. Nigeria's 2019 CPI ranking scored the worst, scoring 27 out of 100, well below the world average of 43 and the average for Sub-Saharan Africa of32.02. Given that Transparency International is based on the perception oft he institutions rather than on measuring the actual experiences ofpublic corruption, thisstudyexamined the perception ofpublic on the anti-corruption struggle of the EFCC in Gombe local government area of Gombe State Gombe. It is a survey research and Bandura’s social learning theory constituted the theoretical frame for the paper. The multi- stagesamplingtechniquewas used to select the 407 study participants. In this study, it was found that public corruption is perceived as a serious problem that must be stopped. Factors responsible for corruption in the regioninclude poverty, unemployment, lack of patriotism, weak justice system, negative value system, and lack of social and economic security; corruption perception index of Nigeria from 1996 - 2019 was also keyed. It was also found that the impact of corruption in the area of the local government of Gombe includes a slowdown in growth and economic development, poor infrastructure development, poverty and unemployment, lack of provision of basic health services and reduction of the investment potential of the company. This research recommended the need for a mindset shift. It involves changing the value system that emphasizes the unbridled predilection for materialism.