TheCable

The presidency has rejected the corruption perception index released by Transparency International, which rated Nigeria’s anti-graft war poor.

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, said the 2020 index is “not an accurate portrayal of the facts on ground”, adding that the organisation’s arm in Nigeria is made up of members of the opposition.

TheCable had reported how Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points in the index — its worst rating since 2015 — with zero signifying the worst performing countries and 100, the best-ranked.

The country also dropped to 149 out of the 180 countries surveyed, making it the second most corrupt country in West Africa.

However, speaking on the ranking via a statement on Thursday, Shehu accused TI of not “coming clean” and “rehashing old tales” in the new report.

“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,” he said.

“We are currently analysing the sources of data used in arriving at the latest Transparency International (TI) report on Corruption Perceptions Index in Nigeria, since by their own admission, they don’t gather their own data. 

“We are also not unaware of the characters behind the TI in Nigeria whose opposition to the Buhari administration is not hidden.”

Shehu further said any evidence-based analysis would prove that the current administration “would be rising fast up” in the annual rankings, whether it is done by prevention or punitive measures in recoveries and prosecution.

“We invite Nigerians to stand with an administration that has done so much on asset recovery, prosecution, legislation, political will and leadership by example in the fight against corruption,” he added.