Nigeria's anti-corruption agency slams Transparency International over the country's poor rating

EFCC slams Transparency International over its 2019 Corruption Perception Index.
Nigeria ranks the 4th and 16th most corrupt country in West Africa and Africa respectively.
The report questions President Muhammadu Buhari's campaign to curb corruption and jail looters.

Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has slammed Transparency International over its 2019 Corruption Perception Index, which rated Nigeria poorly.

In a statement issued on Friday, January 24th, 2020, EFCC described the rating as baseless, illogical, and condemned the report.

“The Commission further faults the poor rating as baseless and describes as appalling, the bogus and ambiguous criteria used by TI to arrive at what can best be described as a jaundiced and illogical rating.

“We insist that the rating is a far cry from the evident strides and achievements so far accomplished by the anti-graft agency in the fight against corruption, particularly under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

SSA among low scoring region Transparency International

“The claim and inference that Nigeria ranks the fourth most corrupt country in West Africa is unacceptable, as it is not supported by any empirical data, especially when placed side-by-side with the remarkable achievements of the Commission in the past years,” the statement added.

On Thursday, Transparency International released its Corruption Perception Index for 2019 and Sub-Saharan Africa ranked low in corruption perception among citizens. Nigeria ranked 16th in Africa and 4th among West African nations.

Compared to the 2018 CPI report, the most populous African nation dropped to two places despite President Muhammadu Buhari's plan to curb corruption and jail looters.