In Transparency International Nigeria’s recently released 2023 Corruption Perception Index, Nigeria was ranked 145 out of 180 countries and received a score of 25 out of 100.
The 2023 CPI is Bola Tinubu’s first index as president.
This represents a five-place increase over Nigeria’s previous ranking in the 2022 CPI, when it ranked 150th out of 180 nations and received 24 out of 100 points.
The CPI score represents the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (extremely corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt perception).
Nigeria had its lowest CPI score in 1996, 6.90, and its highest ever, 28, in 2016, the first year of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
Speaking at the CPI’s formal unveiling in Abuja on Tuesday, Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, stated that the scores demonstrated that Nigeria still had a lot of work to do at the national and regional levels. Notably, the country’s score was lower than the Sub-Saharan African average of 33 points.
“The index reveals that Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points in the 2023 Corruption Perception Index, compared to 24 points in the year 2022 CPI, while Nigeria ranks 145 out of 180 countries, compared to 150 on 2022 CPI results. Nigeria’s score is low the sub-Saharan African average of 33 points. Most African countries show stagnation, ninety per cent of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa scored under 50.
“This shows that it is a problem that we have both in the country and at the regional level and that we have to wake up to ensure that we do everything possible to defeat corruption and corrupt practices. You can see many reasons why these are happening, political corruption is on the increase, and when you loot the nation, and you are rewarded with the appointment, you will continue to do business as usual. So, at both national and regional levels, we have a lot of work to do to create a conducive atmosphere where development can thrive, and where democracy and electoral transparency can happen”, he said.
Highlighting the weaknesses and the reasons why Nigeria’s position had scarcely changed, the Country Director of Accountability Lab Nigeria, Friday Odeh, noted judicial and electoral corruption, as well as corruption in the security sector, as some of the key weaknesses that the country needed to improve on.
“First, we have electoral corruption, which I think most of us are aware of. It is no longer news that the 2023 election dashed the hope of Nigerians, most especially those of the young population who were excited to come out to vote in 2023.
“But now we are not sure what will happen in the next elections. Still referencing the 2023 elections, the Nigerian Judiciary was expected to display independence and dispatch justice transparently, as well as in equity and fairness. However, different conflicting rulings by the different courts, have questioned the independence and integrity of the judiciary as an institution.
“The third weakness is the corruption in the security sector. The defence and security sector has accounted for 13.4% of the national budget. Over the years security budget has been the highest, if not the last three years across the years, which is about twice the sum of the next two sectors, talking about education which is 8.2% and infrastructure which is 5.7%.
“The primary aim of the government is to protect the life and property of citizens, we no longer know if that is the priority. Continuous corruption and wasteful expenditure in the security sector are likely to determine the success or failure of the development objectives of this new administration”, he stated.
The Index was aggregated from eight different sources including the Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index, Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings, Global Insights Country Risk Ratings, PRS International Country Risk Guide, Varieties of Democracy Project, World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey as well as World Justice Project Rule of Law Index.