Transparency International rates Nigeria as 154 out of 180 in its latest corruption survey

TRANSPARENCY International has released its 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) placing Nigeria 154 out of 180 countries studied globally scoring the nation 24 out of 100 points in the survey.

According to the results just released by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (Cislac), Transparency International ’s representative in Nigeria, the figures showed Nigeria falling back one point compared with 2020. Cislac executive director Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, explained that corruption in Nigeria has greatly contributed to the nation’s under-development.

He added that despite successive governments claiming to fight corruption, job opportunities, driving license acquisition, passport applications among others, were still fraught with corrupt tendencies, especially as officials in charge of these basic services expect some form of kickbacks while rendering such duties. Transparency International also claimed that corruption was responsible for rising insecurity, high unemployment rate and the systemic failure in healthcare delivery and leadership dysfunctions.

Mr Rafsanjani added: “The CPI aggregates data from eight different sources that provide perceptions by country experts and business people on the level of corruption in the public sector. While the index does not show specific incidences of corruption in the country, it indicates the perception of corruption in Nigeria.

"This index is completely impartial, objective and globally acknowledged as the most widely used cross country parameter for measuring corruption."