International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020|ISSN 2454-6186 www.rsisinternational.org Page 629 The Effect of Corrupt Practices in Health Care Delivery Systems: A Case Study of Bayelsa State Wisdom Selekekeme Krokeyi, Ben Tantua Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State. Abstract: The term ‘Corruption’ in Nigeria remains a critical concern for many. It has eaten deep into the fabric of the countries socio-cultural and political economy lifestyle/governance systems. This paper examines the impact of corrupt practices in the health systems of Bayelsa state. It adopted a number of instruments such stratified sampling techniques, chi square tests, charts and primary questionnaire to respondents in 8 LGAs in generating and analysing data. The results showed that 53% respondents (non-practitioners) paid for visiting health facility which indicates that non-practitioners at the grassroots do pay extra for services that ought to be free. Also, 22% respondents (practitioners) agreed paying to be posted to different healthcare facility. This is also a clear exhibition of corruption in the healthcare sector which affect quality healthcare service delivery in Bayelsa state as medical practitioners such as nurses, doctors, and public health workers pay money to be posted to lucrative health centres. Thus, the hypothesis that corruption has no significant impact on healthcare delivery in Bayelsa State is rejected with the conclusion that corruption has a significant impact on healthcare delivery in Bayelsa state based on the perception of non- practitioners. The study recommends that the federal government should sustain its fight against corruption in the health sector of Nigeria. This recommendation is made to mitigate cog in the wheel of quality healthcare services delivery in Bayelsa State in particular and Nigeria in general. Keywords: Bayelsa, corruption, healthcare, practitioners, non- practitioners. I. INTRODUCTION ublic discuss in recent times are centered on the rising issues of misappropriation, mismanagement and unaccountability in public finance and implementation, that are attributed to corrupt practices. More so, corrupt practices have become a disease that has eaten deep into the cultural, socio-political and economic fabric of most developing societies. In addition, the poor state of electricity supply, transport and education in Nigeria are attributed to the rising level of corrupt practices in these sectors which further hinders economic growth. Corruption in Nigeria is often profound in Government public investments, revenues, areas of maintenance and public infrastructure, which directly or indirectly impact on the quality of social infrastructure such as health care services. In same vein, corrupt practices pose a challenge in terms of providing quality health services in the country. From a broader perspective, a focus on examining the subject of corruption or corrupt practices is to give a better understanding of the extent, nature and impact of corruption practices in the healthcare sector (EU, 2013) in other to prevent and control corruption as well as, effective measures within the health practice. In a nutshell, corruption hampers social, economic and political development. It lowers productivity, administrative efficiency as well as undermining the legitimacy of political and economic order. Also finances meant for aid and investment get into the accounts of corrupt officials and leaders, especially banks, in developing countries .Similarly a reverse flow of capital do lead to political and economic instability, poor infrastructure, education, health and low standards of living (Buscaglia and Ratliff, 2001) II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The harmful and detrimental effect of corruption is unimaginable. The impact of corruption to all facets of societies is on the front burner of most developing nations, development scholars, commentators, government at all levels and analysts. Much has been said and done on the subject matter. In order to understand corrupt practices within the health sector in Bayelsa state, this paper adopts the Public Choice and Public Administration Theory as the theoretical lenses to examine the impact of corruption in the health sector. Public choice theory is based on individuals ‘rational’ decisions that leads to a predetermined outcome, as the individual tries to maximize his or her utility. More so, it is argued that public officials become corrupt when the potential benefit for being corrupt outweighs the potential cost (Gjalt.2007). Public administrative theory on the other hand, views corrupt practices from societal pressure and lack of integrity by individuals at various levels of institutions and organizations (Rose-Ackerman, 1999) Empirical Literature A number of studies have examined how corruption or corrupt practices impact of society’s development and growth. For instance Dominic (2012) analyzed the impact of corruption on health services from opinion of respondents at the grassroots level in Ado-Odo/Ota Local government area in Ogun state. The respondents were drawn from Public Health and Antenatal clinics. The findings show that the cost of service, staff development, non-availability of drugs and consumables and equipment inadequacy, among others were positively and significantly related to corruption, which thus diminish the delivery of healthcare services at grassroots. Similarly, studies by Nagari, K. I., Umar, G., Abdul, F. A. (2013) on the impact P