Emmanuel Ukudolo l Thursday, January 23, 2020
LAGOS, Nigeria – The celebrated anti-corruption fight embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari has failed woefully on the global scene based on the 2019 Corruption Perception Index(CPI) released today by Transparency International(TI).
According to the Corruption Perception Index released by TI, Nigeria somersaulted from 26 position in 2018 to 146 in global ranking for the year 2019.
The CPI, according to TI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives and it uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Based on the survey, Nigeria only garnered 26 points over 100 (26/ 100) out of the 180 countries surveyed, showing that Nigeria is actually on a catastrophic free fall under Nigeria’s perceived anti-corruption czar, President Muhammadu Buhari.
Based on the rankings, New Zealand remains the least corrupt country, followed by Denmark, Finland and Switzerland, while Somalia remains the most corrupt country in the world, coming 180 in the global PCI.
More than two-thirds of countries – along with many of the world’s most advanced economies – are stagnating or showing signs of backsliding in their anti-corruption efforts, according to the 2019 CPI.
According to TI, countries in which elections and political party financing are open to undue influence from vested interests are less able to combat corruption.
“Frustration with government corruption and lack of trust in institutions speaks to a need for greater political integrity,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International. “Governments must urgently address the corrupting role of big money in political party financing and the undue influence it exerts on our political systems.”
More than two-thirds of countries, TI said scored below 50, with an average score of only 43, adding that since 2012, only 22 countries have significantly improved their scores, including Estonia, Greece and Guyana, while twenty-one countries have significantly declined, including Australia, Canada and Nicaragua.
“Our research shows several of the most advanced economies cannot afford to be complacent if they are to keep up their anti-corruption momentum. Four G7 countries score lower than last year: Canada (-4), France (-3), the UK (-3) and the US (-2). Germany and Japan have seen no improvement, while Italy gained one point, TI said in the 2019 report.
