LATEST UPDATE: Nigeria’s latest corruption perception ranking
According to the report released on December 3, 2014, Nigeria scored 27 out of out of a maximum 100 marks to clinch 136th position out of the 175 countries surveyed. This means that Nigeria has ‘improved’ by eight points against its 2013 rating as 144th out of 175 countries. A statement issued from the Berlin office of Transparency International shows that more than two-thirds or over 75 percent of the 175 countries surveyed this year scored below 50, on a scale from 0. Countries within the 0-50 range are perceived to be strikingly corrupt.
Put together, a few things stand out in the report regarding corruption in Nigeria. First, the document indicates that the tag of corruption in Nigeria is quite high, while public perception of government’s crusade against graft suggests that it may be nothing more than a façade. This view is reinforced essentially by the perceived kid gloves with which both government and anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) treat corruption offences.
There are also allegations that these agencies are selective in their prosecution of corruption cases. We do not have many cases of diligent prosecution of corrupt persons. Corruption cases are hardly ever pursued to a logical conclusion. There are so many inconclusive cases, and many instances of corruption that the agencies declined to prosecute. In many of these glaring cases, successive governments in the country have failed to convince anyone that Nigeria is committed to checking graft.
It is disheartening that corruption among public officials remains high. It has also been widely speculated that it is on the basis of the high incidence of corruption in government and the apparent nonchalance of the anti-corruption agencies that Nigeria continues to rank high on the inglorious list of the most corrupt nations in the world. However, the challenge before the government is to convincingly dispel the view that the battle against corruption has, in the main, been selective and highly politicized.
Government should not beat its chest that it is winning the war against graft as many of its key institutions and parastatals are still deep in the practice, just as the National Assembly was once described by the global anti-graft watchdog as “the world’s filthiest arena of politics”. Although the description may have been exaggerated, the fact remains that no country that is steeped in corruption can survive for long. In addition, there is a growing fear that if corruption in Nigeria is not tamed, the country risks losing its membership of the powerful Financial Action Task Force(FATF), a global anti-graft monitor. This could also affect the flow of foreign investments and the cost of doing business in the country.
While we strongly believe that the crusade against graft requires the support of all Nigerians, government should take the lead by ensuring that public officials are above board and those found to be corrupt are severely punished. Nobody should be treated as a sacred cow.
The Federal Government should demonstrate the political will to check corruption. Our laws, especially those relating to economic and financial crimes, must be effectively enforced. Some of these laws have, however, become outdated. They should be updated in line with present realities.
It is on this score that we urge the National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, amend or expunge from our statute books those corruption laws that have become irrelevant, outmoded, ambiguous or tacitly encouraging official corruption.
One of the biggest challenges facing our democracy is corruption. The Federal Government should, therefore, see our latest corruption ranking as a wake-up call to work harder to tackle the menace.
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