Nigeria ranks 150, scores 24 on corruption index

Nigeria has again scored 24 points out of 100, while ranking 150th out of 180 countries on the 2022 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International on Tuesday. The PUNCH reports.

While the country maintained its score from last year (2021) of 24 points out of 100, there was a change in ranking from 154 to 150 in the recently released index.

The PUNCH reports that the CPI is Transparency International’s tool for measuring the level of corruption in the systems of the 180 countries around the world, based on certain prevailing indices.

Such indicators include bribery, misuse of public funds, government officials using public office for personal gain without consequence, the ability of governments to contain corruption and enforce effective integrity mechanisms in the public sector, red tape and excessive bureaucratic burdens that on corruption, meritocratic versus nepotistic appointments in the civil service.

For Nigeria, the CPI pulled its data for the ranking of eight globally acclaimed organizations, of which Nigeria is a partner.

The eight organizations are the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey, Works Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Varieties of Democracy Project, Global Insight Country Risk Guide, PRS International Country Risk Guide, Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings and the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Transformation Index.

Two former governors were pardoned in April 2022, their convictions and sentences upheld by the Supreme Court, and they still had half of their prison sentences to serve.

The prosecution of the former governors, which began under the previous administration, lasted more than 10 years, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission having to expend scarce public funds to bring the case to a close.

In previous years, Nigeria had experienced a sequential drop in the CPI ranking. In 2012 the country scored 27, and in 2013 it scored 25, then it went back to 27 in 2014 and fell to 26 in 2015, rose to 28 in 2016, 27 in 2017 and 2018, 26 in 2019, back to 25 in 2020 and 24 in 2021 and 2022.

However, Nigerian authorities continue to criticize Transparency International’s reports of rising corruption in the country.

It claimed last year, in response to the 2021 assessment, that the global anti-corruption body lacked the basis on which it could rank Nigeria.

Meanwhile, according to Delia Rubio, the president of Transparency International, global corruption levels have been stagnant for 11 years in a row.

Rubio said: “Corruption has made our world more dangerous. As governments have collectively failed to make progress against it, they are fueling the current increase in violence and conflict – and endangering people everywhere. The only way out is for states to do the hard work, stamping out corruption at all levels to ensure governments work for all people, not just a few elites.”

Also at a press conference on Tuesday, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center in conjunction with Transparency International noted that two imprisoned former governors — Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State have been pardoned in 2022 by the Buhari-led government. pointed to a major setback in the country’s anti-corruption efforts.

CISLAC also noted that the prevailing insecurity, the lack of freedom of the press, the inability to prosecute and convict politicians who have not fully declared their assets, especially those held in offshore accounts, the increase in oil theft, the opacity of the subsidy regime, the lack of transparency and accountability in the security sector, lack of transparency in constituency projects, as well as inadequacy of the government’s judiciary and legislature, were all contributing factors.

Meanwhile, for Sub-Saharan Africa, the regional average score of 32 out of 100 marks another year of stagnation on the Corruption Perceptions Index for 44 of the region’s 49 countries assessed, all of which scored below 50.

Gains in some countries are offset by significant declines in others.