Nigeria slips down in global corruption ranking, rated 146 out of 180 countries
By Prince Anthony Okafor
The 2019 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI), on Thursday, revealed that Nigeria has further slipped down in the global rating, scoring 26 out of 100 points.
The newly released index which was exclusively published by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), an arm of TI in Nigeria, showed that the country fell back by one point, compared to its 2018 rating.
The report CISLAC made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, indicated that in the country comparison, Nigeria, ranked 146 out of 180 countries, slipping two places down, compared to 2018 results.
“The negative result from this year provokes tough questions. Despite the proclaimed war on corruption, why is Nigeria perceived by Nigerians and the international community still as very corrupt? The government of Nigeria claims to win the war on corruption, but is this statement backed by evidence?”, CISLAC queried in its report.
It decried that every year when results from the global rating are not favourable to the government, the CPI and all other critical citizens are dismissed and branded as unpatriotic.
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“Instead of analytically discussing why Nigeria does not seem to be winning the war on corruption, the Government and her supporters will spend tax payers’ resources and precious time on denying the obvious- Nigeria does not make much progress in the fight against corruption!”.
Though the report acknowledged that Nigeria had since 2015, made important reforms that included the introduction of Single Treasury Account, launch of the Anti-Corruption Strategy, as well as the Know-Your-Customer policy, it, however decried that “all useful reforms in Nigeria are limited to those who cannot afford to ignore them”.
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It said: “The pre-election period witnessed mind-blowing scandals, which stayed without consequences. Politicians stashing millions in dollars in kickbacks or having corruption charges upon them just need to switch political parties or stay loyal and charges are dropped against them. Despite evidence brought by brave media and civil society, prominent personalities in politics and business are untouchable by Nigerian law enforcement and the Executive”.
