…Presidecy Welcomes Ranking
Nigeria has been ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI), improving from 145th in the 2023 ranking.
The report, presented on Tuesday in Abuja by TI’s Nigerian chapter, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), showed that Nigeria’s corruption perception score increased slightly from 25 to 26 out of 100.
The 2024 CPI report, which assesses the perceived level of public sector corruption in 180 countries, placed Nigeria alongside Uganda, Mexico, Madagascar, Iraq, and Cameroon, all scoring 26 out of 100 points.
Cape Verde emerged as Africa’s least corrupt country, ranking 35th globally with 62 points. Meanwhile, South Sudan, Somalia, and Venezuela were named the most corrupt countries in the world.
Despite this marginal improvement, the report highlighted persistent corruption challenges in Nigeria, including judicial corruption, state capture, oil theft, subsidy fraud, and weak political integrity.
It also noted some progress, including increased anti-corruption prosecutions and the efforts of the ICPC, EFCC, and the Nigerian government in recovering and repatriating looted assets.
“This includes the cooperation between Nigeria and France on the Abacha loot, as well as the recent cooperation between the United States and the Nigerian government in the recovery and repatriation of the $52.88 million recovered from Nigeria’s former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke,” CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said while presenting the report.
Presidency Reacts to New Ranking
Reacting to the ranking, the Presidency welcomed the development, saying it reflects the progress made by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration in the fight against corruption.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the improved ranking as a step in the right direction.
“According to the report, Nigeria moved five places from where it was last year. Last year we were number 145, and this year we are number 140. Which means we have jumped up five places in the latest ranking. For me, it is worthy of note that we have made some progress,” he said.
“Those who come out with the ranking interviewed a lot of people, and it is based on these interviews. So for us to have moved from 145 to 140 shows that those that they talked to feel that there has been some progress in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.”
He added, “Like I said, for me, I think Nigeria has made some progress. We have moved up. We are not saying we have solved the problem of corruption in Nigeria. No country scored 100 per cent. This government is fighting it, and it is serious about it. And what this government has been doing is to try to use technology to fight corruption.”
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