TheCable

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, says the corruption perception index by Transparency International (TI) which ranked Nigeria low could be based on statements from the opposition party.

In its 2019 corruption perception index published on Thursday, TI ranked Nigeria 146 of 180 countries studied, two points lower than 148 the country was rated in 2018.

The organisation identified some causes of the decline as attack on the media and journalists exposing corruption, selective anti-graft war as well as ingrained corrupt practices in critical sectors.

Both the federal government and the anti-graft agencies dismissed the ranking as baseless and appalling.

Speaking during a Channels TV programme on Friday, Shehu said the report is based on secondary data and not factual.

He said it is only a perception, and it is “different from the reality that you have on the ground”.

“In fairness to the TI that presented the report, they said themselves that it is not research-based,” Shehu said.

“So, it is not fact-based but based on secondary data; information collected here and there. In effect, anybody could put together this kind of report from press releases issued by opposition political parties.”

The presidential spokesman also said the latest report is “harsh on the government,” adding: “This administration has done enormously well. We have achieved quite a lot.

”It is hearsay, somebody said something and we are picking it from there.”

TI said the latest index draws from 13 data sources of 12 independent institutions specialising in governance and business climate analysis.