The Nigerian government has faulted the 2020 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (TI-CPI).
Nigeria dropped three places and scored lower in number of points than in the 2019 record, indicating that corruption is perceived to have worsened in the country within the last one year.
The country scored 25/100 which is one point less than its 26 points in the previous year.
Nigeria, which rose by four places in the 2018 index, is now 149 out of 180 countries, a record that is three steps lower than its rank of 146 in 2019, according to the report.
But the country’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, faulted the latest ranking, saying Nigeria’s anti-corruption agenda remains on course.
‘For instance, following the release of the 2019 TI-Corruption Perception Index, the government initiated some reforms to improve on Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business indices’, he said in a statement.
‘This is because we found that up to 40 percent of the country’s corruption perception survey indices relates to business processes and general public service delivery processes.
‘Government’s swift action has led to major reforms in the processes at our ports and business process points’.
According to him, aside stressing corruption prevention measures and building of integrity systems, high-profile corruption cases are under investigation and prosecution.
He stated that the emphasis on preventive mechanisms was in response to various local and international reviews and evaluation that Nigeria has gone through, including those from the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and even from the TI-CPI.
‘In response to these evaluations, a number of significant policies have been instituted to enhance transparency and accountability and prevent corruption’, he said.
‘Even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of key transparency and accountability policies were developed and are currently being implemented’.
The minister said while the government expects the results from reforms to speak for it in due course, the country was also taking measures to improve its data collection.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and BudgIT say Nigeria’s poor rating by TI is a reminder of the need for a fast and transparent response to challenges posed by corruption in the country.
The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) listed lack of transparency in Covid-19 response, nepotism, lack of adequate laws to tackle corruption, prevalence of bribery and extortion by the police and corruption in the security sector as the reasons for Nigeria’s poor rating.
‘With the Covid-19 pandemic out of Nigeria’s responsibility, there has been a lack of transparency in the emergency response of the government’, the CSOs said at a press conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
‘Coupled with the gap in coordination, the process has been fraught by incessant flouting of procurement guidelines, hoarding of relief materials and diversion of these materials which are then used as personal souvenirs presented to political party loyalists and close associates’.
The CSOs asked the federal and state governments to appoint and promote public servants based on merit, and ensure a free civic space for engagement with citizens and the media.
Source: Ministry of Information and Culture
Photo source: Femi Adesina
