The Presidency, yesterday welcomed a report released by a global coalition against corruption, the Transparency International (TI), ranking Nigeria as the 36th most corrupt country in the world for 2024.
Specifically, it said the present administration has made progress in the fight against corruption, adding that Nigeria moving from 145 last year to 140, was an indication of the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tackle the menace that had eaten deep into the system.
Daily Impact reports that Nigeria’s present position was revealed in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report that was released in Abuja on Tuesday by TI through its Nigerian chapter, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Transparency International Nigeria (TI-Nigeria).
It would be recalled that Nigeria was ranked 145 out of 180 countries and scored 25 out of 100 points in the 2023 index – the first index under the Tinubu government.
The 2023 index represented a rise in five places above its previous ranking in the 2022 CPI, where Nigeria placed 150 out of 180 countries, and scored 24 of 100 points.
For clarity, the CPI score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (representing highly corrupt), to 100 (representing least corrupt perception).
Speaking at the public presentation of the 2024 CPI, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said the top 10 least corrupt nations were predominantly from European, with Denmark emerging as the least corrupt country in the world with 90 points.
He said this was followed by Finland with 88 points and Singapore with 84 points, adding that the report identified four positive trends and development.
According to him, 10 major weaknesses including judicial corruption, state capture, nepotism, oil theft, subsidy fraud, corruption in the power sector, public procurement, tax evasion and selective tax waivers characterised Nigeria’s points.
He also listed lack of political integrity, continuous corruption, wasteful expenditures in the security sector, shrinking civic space, democratic decline, opaqueness of public institutions and wasteful expenditures as part of the weaknesses.
The report showed that Nigeria shares the 36th position with Uganda, Mexico, Madagascar, Iraq and Cameroon, each scoring 26 points on the corruption index.
However, Cape Verde emerged as the least corrupt country in Africa, ranking 35th globally with 62 points, Nigeria was ranked 35th in 2023 rankings.
At the tail end of the spectrum, South Sudan, Somalia and Venezuela were named the most corrupt countries in the world for the year under review.
“Nigeria’s 2024 CPI score is 26 out of 100, a slight increase from 25 in 2023. Its global ranking improved from 145th to 140th out of 180 countries.
“While this indicates a marginal positive shift, it is far from the substantial progress needed to dismantle systemic corruption. Sub-Saharan Africa holds the lowest average score at 33 out of 100.
