Nigeria: Federal gov criticizes TI's Corruption Perceptions Index report 2020

Following the release of the Corruption Perceptions Index report 2020, the Nigerian government criticized Transparency International (TI) on Friday for ranking the country among the most corrupt nations of the world, according to a report by The EastAfrican.

Dropped by three ranks, Nigeria ranked at 149 out of 180 countries according to the report released earlier on Thursday.

The Federal government officials have reportedly accused TI of using inaccurate information for its report. Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President and media aide, said that the country's administration should be credited for being the light bearer of anti-corruption initiatives globally.

The Buhari administration deserves credit for diminishing corruption in the public service and will continue to vigorously support prevention, enforcement, public education and enlightenment activities of anti-corruption agencies.

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) January 28, 2021

Shehu further added, "in the coming days, the government's Technical Unit on Governance Research (TUGAR) will be providing more detailed information on the sources of the TI data. While this is being awaited, the examination carried out on their 2019 report showed that 60 percent of their data was collected from businesses and other entities with issues bordering on transparency and the ease of doing business at the ports".

He challenged the TI data specialists in the country accusing of 'baseless rating', "we have repeatedly challenged TI to provide indices and statistics of its own to justify its sensational and baseless rating on Nigeria and the fight against corruption. We expect them to come clean and desist from further rehashing of old tales.''

He further added that the country made a recovery worth $3.3 billion from 2009 to 2019 out of which around $2.6 billion was recovered from 2015 to 2019 calculating a lesser $700 million in the first six years. The recoveries were reportedly made by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices, and Related Offences Commission (ICPC).