Nigeria has been ranked 146th out of the 180 countries in the 2019 corruption perception index report released by Transparency International.
It is one of the country’s worst ranking in the last few years
Nigeria’s score of 26 out of 100 points is below the global average of 43.
In Africa, countries such as Botswana which scored 61 points; Cape Verde, 60; Rwanda, 53; Namibia, 52; Senegal, 45; South Africa, 44, and Tunisia, 43 met the average.
Benin which scored 41 points, Ghana, 41; Burkina Faso, 40; Lesotho, 40; Ethiopia, 37; Tanzania, 37; Algeria and Egypt, 35 apiece; Zambia, 34; Sierra Leone, 33; Niger, 32; Malawi, 31; Djibouti, 30; and Guinea, 29, were ranked higher than Nigeria.
However, Nigeria ranked higher than Cameroon which scored 25; CAR; 25; Comoros, 25; Zimbabwe, 24; Madagascar, 24; Eritrea, 23; Chad, 20; Equatorial Guinea, 16; Guinea Bissau, 18; and Somalia, 8 and ranked 180th.
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.
It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Presenting the report in Abuja, the executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani blamed Nigeria’s poor ranking on selective application of the rule of law.
He pointed out that the rich does not play by the rules.
He said despite the various reforms and the much touted anti-corruption campaign of the government, corruption is still a big issue and challenge in the country.
“All useful reforms in Nigeria are limited to those who cannot afford to ignore them. The pre-election period witnessed mind-blowing scandals which stayed without consequences.
“Politicians stashing millions of 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 the evidence brought by brave media and civil society, prominent persons in politics and business are untouchable by the Nigerian law enforcement and the executive,” Rafsanjani said.
However, the attorney general and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami reacted to the rating saying the facts on the ground did not correlate with the information TI dished out.
Speaking in an interview on Channels, Malami said “the empirical evidence” did not support Transparency International’s report.
“In terms of the fight against corruption, we have been doing more, we have done more and we will continue to do more out of inherent conviction and desire on our part to fight against corruption devoid of any extraneous considerations relating to the rating by Transparency International.
“Our resolve to fight corruption is inherent and indeed devoid of any extraneous considerations, we will continue to do more and we will double efforts.
“In terms of legislation, we have done more, in terms of enforcement we have done more, in terms of recovery of looted assets we have done more, and in terms of political goodwill, we have demonstrated extra-ordinary political goodwill,” he said.
The minister challenged TI to provide indices and statistics from which it adjudged that Nigeria is not doing enough in its fight against corruption.
For a conclusion to be legitimate, Malami said there has to be specific facts and figures to establish a position.
