Buhari’s Anti-Corruption Fight not Yielding Results as Nigeria Continues Downward Slide in CPI

Paschal Emeka, Abuja | January 31, 2023

Despite the much-vaunted war against corruption by President Buhari’s administration, Nigeria has again fallen by four places on the latest Corruption Perception Index, CPI, ranking released by Transparency International, TI, on Tuesday.

Although in the 2022 ranking, Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points, it fell from 150th to 154th out of 180 countries assessed in the 2022 ranking.

The CPI is TI’s tool for measuring the levels of corruption in the systems of various countries around the world. A country can score a maximum of 100 points, and the least is zero. Zero signifies the worst-performing government, and 100 is the best-ranked.

The latest ranking may indicate that President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption has yet to yield enough results.

Many consider the Buhari administration’s pardon granted to two jailed former governors – Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State – in 2022 as a significant setback in the country’s anti-corruption efforts.

As the two former governors were pardoned in April 2022, the Supreme Court affirmed their convictions and sentencing, and they had yet to serve half the length of their jail terms.

Also, corruption has continued to permeate the public and private sectors despite the government’s efforts to deter the menace.

Transparency International Chair, Delia Rubio, said governments worldwide have failed to progress against corruption.

Rubio called for all governments to work for all people, not just an elite few.

“Corruption has made our world a more dangerous place. As governments have collectively failed to progress against it, they fuel the current rise in violence and conflict – and endanger people everywhere. The only way out is for states to do the hard work, rooting out corruption at all levels to ensure governments work for all people, not just an elite few”, Rubio stated.