Corruption Ranking: Why Nigeria recorded marginal improvement, maintained low score in 2023 CPI

Nigeria gained a marginal one point to rank 145 among 180 countries in the new Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday.

Its new score of 25 in the 2023 CPI, which is up from the 24 it recorded in the previous ranking, is far below the Sub-Sahara African average of 33 points.

“Small fluctuations or changes in a country’s CPI score are not usually significant,” says TI.

TI, through its Nigerian chapter, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), offered some reasons for Nigeria’s marginal, unimpressive improvement in the number of points scored and ranking among the 180 countries assessed, during the release of the CPI in Abuja on Tuesday.

The CPI uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero means “highly corrupt”, and 100 means “very clean”. Nigeria scored 25 in the 2023 CPI compared to the 24 it scored in the 2022 CPI.

Its scores have hovered between 24 and 28 in 10 years.

It reached the peak of 28 points in 2016, the year after then President Muhammadu Buhari rode to power on the back of a promise to fight corruption and when Nigeria made a strong commitment to fight corruption at the London summit.

But the country’s scores have fallen and stagnated in the years that follow, reaching its lowest of 24 points in the CPI 2021 and 2022. It only gained one point in the latest report to score 25 points.

TI and CISLAC attributed the slight improvement to three factors, including the launch of the Beneficial Ownership Register in May last year.

The other two factors, according to the body, are the contribution of Nigeria’s “vibrant media, civil society and citizenry in demanding transparency and accountability” and arrests and recoveries by anti-corruption agencies.

“In May 2023, the Nigerian government launched its Open Central Register of Beneficial Ownership which is also known as the Persons with Significant Control (PSC) register having passed a Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 which supports its establishment.

“This was also in line with Nigeria’s commitment at the London 2016 Anti-corruption summit.

While the launch of this register does not solve the challenge of procurement fraud in public contracting through the use of corporate vehicles and companies by politicians, it was a step in the right direction,” CISLAC’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani), stated in the statement for the release of the CPI.

The organisation called on the governor “through the Corporate Affairs Commission to ensure that this register is updated with information on persons who have significant interest in companies.”

On the roles of the media, civil society and citizens, it said “the trio through their complementary efforts have constantly put the Nigerian government on its toes, through the constant highlight of issues militating against the national interest of the country.”

In addition to this, the statement said the arrests and recoveries of proceeds of crime by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies also played a major role. “For example, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) through its Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Initiative has recovered billions of Naira in diverted constituency and executive projects.”

“However, it is important to highlight that these agencies need to thoroughly investigate and prosecute high-profile individuals without political interference,” it added.

Downside

The downsides of Nigeria’s performance in the year reviewed in the report, include unchecked electoral corruption, judicial corruption, corruption in the security sector, opaqueness of public institutions, and reward of corrupt and questionable individuals with an appointment.

The rest are wasteful expenditures and failure to prosecute high-profile cases.

The organisation recalled how Nigeria’s 2023 general elections dashed the hopes of Nigerians who were hoping for a better electoral process despite the passing of the 2022 Electoral Act.

Relying on the European Union (EU) Observation Mission’s critical review of the election, the statement said “The poor performance of the election fails to justify the huge resources allocated to INEC for the conduct of the elections.”

It said judicial corruption manifested in decisions of courts on the disputes arising from the disputed elections.

Different conflicting rulings by the different courts, it said, “have questioned the independence and integrity of the judiciary as an institution.”

Also, adding to the poor corruption perception in the country, according to CISLAC, is the corruption in the security sector.

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“In 2023, the defence and security sector accounted for 13.4 per cent of the budget3 which was about twice the sum of the next two sectors education (8.2%) and infrastructure (5.7%).

“However, the security situation of the country continues to be a challenge and the corruption in this sector is worrisome. In October 2023, a military court martial sitting in Abuja sentenced a Major General to seven years imprisonment for stealing, forgery, misappropriation, and conspiracy. He was also ordered to refund US$ 2 million and 1.69 billion Naira.

“This is likely only one incident of many. Corruption in the security sector is worrisome because aside from its impacts on the peaceful coexistence of citizens, it also impacts the economy with over 400,000 barrels of crude oil stolen daily as stated by the National Security Adviser.”

Also within the year, the new administration of President Bola Tinubu oversaw “the appointment and nomination of individuals with corrupt and questionable pasts into leadership positions at the political party level, the executive, and the legislative arms of government”.

CISLAC described this development as worrisome.

Recommendations

As part of its recommendations to address the gaps, the organisation called for the strengthening of the independence of the Nigerian justice system to shield it from interference. “Merit-based promotion and appointments should be carried out rather than political appointments. This will help win back the trust of the citizens in the judiciary.”

It also called for a proper integrity monitoring mechanism in the Nigerian judiciary. This, it said, should cover whistleblowing and other reporting channels.

“Our electoral system needs to be reformed to regain the lost trust of the citizens,” it added.

It also said the Beneficial Ownership Register should be regularly updated with information and citizens should also be granted access.

Other recommendations include: “The relevant anti-corruption agencies should ensure that high-profile corruption cases are pursued to their logical conclusion for the benefit of Nigeria and its citizens. They should also explore international alternatives in cases of grand corruption that are transnational.

“Government agencies should disclose as much data as possible about government contracts in line with the proactive provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the open government partnership and other international commitments Nigeria has signed onto.

“Agencies given the mandate to recover assets under the Proceeds of Crime (and Management) Act 2022 should ensure that they establish a database where information about assets in their custody is easily accessed by citizens in line with the Act and the proactive provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011.

“The National Assembly should ensure transparency in the implementation of the constituency projects. The relevant agencies should ensure that those found guilty are brought to book.

“Impartial and unhindered investigation of security sector corruption must be prioritised to improve the deteriorating security across Nigeria. Security Votes and other secretive defence expenditures must be investigated by the civilian law enforcement agencies.”