Nigeria moves up 4 places on TI’s corruption perception index, but improvement stalls

Nigeria has moved up four places from 148th to 144th position in the 2018 corruption perception index (CPI) compiled by Transparency International.

According to Transparency International, the 2018 CPI ranking draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). 

Despite Nigeria’s upward movement in the new ranking, the country’s CPI score did not improve from the 27 points that it scored in the 2017 ranking, making it drop from 136th position.

While Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal were identified as significant improvers in the new CPI ranking, Nigeria was listed as a country to watch alongside Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Kenya.

TI’s report noted that despite President Muhammadu Buhari‘s positive steps to combat corruption, they have not yielded desired results.

The report read, “Nigeria’s Buhari administration took a number of positive steps in the past three years, including the establishment of a presidential advisory committee against corruption, the improvement of the anti-corruption legal and policy framework in areas like public procurement and asset declaration, and the development of a national anti-corruption strategy, among others.

“However, these efforts have clearly not yielded the desired results. At least, not yet.”

President Buhari’s anti-corruption fight has been plagued with allegations that he’s being partisan and shielding his close associates from the law while aggressively targeting people in the opposition.

With the 76-year-old seeking re-election in the February 16, 2019 presidential election, he has ramped up on his promise to jail looters and ensure they return stolen loots to the nation’s treasury.

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