Connect with us

Featured

CPI 2020: Nigeria Ranks 149 Out Of 183 Countries

Published

on

As economic recession continues to bite harder and inflation skyrocketing, Transparency International (TI), yesterday, disclosed that Nigeria ranked 149 on Corruption Perception Index 2020 out of 183 countries.
This was contained in a publication by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and made available to newsmen, which indicated that Nigeria, again, recorded a decline in the CPI in 2020.
Nigeria dropped to 149 on Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index to become the second most corrupt country in West Africa, scoring 25 out of 100 points.
This indicates that corruption in the country has worsened as it is the worst ranking Nigeria has received in two years.
Nigeria follows Guinea Bissau who finished on 165 as the most corrupt nation in the sub-region, scoring 19 points.
Fellow African countries, Somalia and South Sudan, are perceived as the most corrupt nations on earth.
Of the 49 countries assessed in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 12 are more corrupt than Nigeria.
They are Zimbabwe, Chad, Eritrea, Burundi, Congo, Guinea Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan.
According to the jointly signed report by CISLAC/TI Nigeria, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and BudgIT, Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points in the 2020 CPI, falling back by one point compared to last year.
The report also indicated that the CPI aggregated data from eight different sources that provided perceptions by Nigeria’s business community and country experts on the level of corruption in the public sector.
While the index does not show specific incidences of corruption, “it is an indication of the perception of the Nigerian public about the state of corruption in the country. The index is completely impartial, objective and globally well respected.”
The report reads in part, “The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released globally by Transparency International (TI) today shows that Nigeria yet again, records a decline in the CPI in 2020.
“Published exclusively in Nigeria by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the National Chapter of TI, the index reveals that Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points in the 2020 CPI, falling back by one point compared to last year. In the country comparison for this year, Nigeria ranks 149 out of 183 countries -three places down compared to 2019 results.
“The CPI aggregates data from eight different sources that provide perceptions by Nigeria’s business community and country experts on the level of corruption in the public sector. While the index does not show specific incidences of corruption, it is an indication of the perception of the Nigerian public about the state of corruption in the country. The index is completely impartial, objective, and globally well respected.
“This result is coming at the heels of numerous challenges facing the country ranging from the Covid-19 pandemic, insecurity, high unemployment, and a sharp increase in government borrowing, amongst others.
“While releasing its report on “Rising to the Challenge: Nigeria’s COVID Response” in December, 2020, the World Bank warned that “In the next three years, an average Nigerian could see a reversal of decades of economic growth and the country could enter its deepest recession since the 1980s.”
The report further pointed out that, “Nigeria’s CPI score is just another reminder of the need for a fast, transparent, and robust response to the challenges posed by corruption to Nigeria.
“It is worrying that despite the numerous efforts by state actors on the war against corruption, Nigeria is still perceived by citizens and members of the international community as being corrupt. CISLAC/TI is forced to ask why the results do not commensurate with the efforts?
However, the report made it clear that “Despite the fact that CISLAC and Nigerian partners do not collect the CPI data as this is done by independent, reputable organisations, we and other well-meaning citizens have experienced push-back from various governments and their supporters when the CPI results and other indices turn unfavourable. Some of these push backs include labelling us ‘unpatriotic citizens’. In some instances, physical attacks were experienced.”
The report also made reference to an independent think tank organization, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) that Nigeria witnessed a total of 2,860 kidnappings in 2020, showing the appalling insecurity challenge Nigeria is being subjected to.
“According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) which is an independent think tank organization, Nigeria witnessed a total of 2,860 kidnappings in 2020 which was up from 1,386 in 2019”, it pointed.
It also added that “The picture is further gloomy when taking into consideration the Unemployment Data for the second quarter of 2020 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“This survey by the NBS which is the government’s statistical agency shows that one in two Nigerian is either unemployed (27.1%) or underemployed (28.6%). Each of these challenges can be linked to corruption and mismanagement of public resources, which further exacerbates the economic and health impact of the terrible global pandemic.”
According to the report, CISLAC/TI and partners pointed out that there are worrisome factors that would continue to hamper the fight against corruption, and described them as a list of key weaknesses which include the absence of transparency in the Covid-19 pandemic response; nepotism in the public service appointments and promotions; lack of adequate anti-corruption legal frameworks and interference by politicians in the operation of law enforcement agencies; and prevalence of bribery and extortion in the Nigerian Police; and security sector corruption.
“To explain why Nigeria may not have improved in the fight against corruption. Although there is a various extent of the below-mentioned factors on the unfavourable ranking this year, we feel that these areas require immediate improvement for the sake of the well-being of ordinary Nigerians.
“In the past year, we witnessed nepotism and favouritism in the appointment and promotion of some public officers. For example, all Nigerians remember the controversy which trailed the decision of the National Judicial Council (NJC) when at least, eight of the 33 judges recommended for appointment by the NJC were either children or relatives of current or retired Justices of the Supreme or Appeal Courts.
“The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in itself is not an exception with allegations of individuals promoted on the basis of their relationship and other affiliations as against merit and other criteria stated in the rule books. Reports around the commercialization of employment into various institutions, including admission into various tertiary educational institutions put the nation in bad light. The extortion for the acquisition of services like healthcare, passports renewal and obtaining of visas creates a negative perception of corruption in Nigeria.
“Prevalence of bribery and extortion in the Nigerian Police; The year 2020 witnessed the #EndSARS protests which saw young people across the nation demanding an end to police brutality and corruption. A factor that led to this protest was widespread bribery and extortion by law enforcement officials especially the police.
“The first and second national corruption surveys conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in partnership with the government’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and released in 2017 and 2019 both showed the Nigerian Police is the institution with the highest prevalence of bribery amongst the institutions measured.
“While there have been commendable efforts by the Police Complaints Response Unit (CRU) in reducing police abuses, there is a need to scale up the efforts of the unit to meet the demands of citizens as contained in the Police Act 2020.
“Security sector corruption: From violent extremism and insurgency to piracy, kidnapping for ransom, attacks on oil infrastructure, drug trafficking, and organized crime, Nigeria faces a host of complex security challenges. These threats typically involve irregular forces and are largely societally based.
“They are most prevalent and persistent in marginalized areas where communities feel high levels of distrust toward the government—often built up over many years. At their root, these security challenges are symptoms of larger failures in governance.
“As many of Nigeria’s security threats are domestic in nature, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is often the primary security interface with the public. However, low levels of public trust in the police inhibit the cooperation needed to be effective against these societally based threats.
“Nigeria’s security system is also perceived to be politicized. Leaders are often appointed based on their political allegiances rather than on their experience or capabilities in law enforcement. As a result, the quality of leadership at the helm of affairs suffers.
“Appointees under such circumstances feel loyalty to their political patron rather than to their institutions or citizens. How and to whom the law is applied is not consistent. Norms of professionalism and ethics are weakened.
“The problem of non-meritocratic leadership is exacerbated by a command-and-control structure that is opaque, centralized, and often chaotic. Security leaders who have not earned their position lose the respect of their colleagues, who are then more likely to abandon a unit when facing an armed threat. Insufficient understanding or commitment to effectiveness among a force’s leadership often results in the neglect of training. Problems of police engagement with communities are thus perpetuated.
“The continuous opaqueness in the utilization of security votes contributes to corruption perception in the country and this process must be reformed especially when we have security agencies living and working in very poor conditions. Multiple reports of police officers protesting non-payment of allowances for election duties are now seen. The result of this is the widespread kidnappings, banditry and terrorism ravaging different parts of the country.
“Absence of transparency in the Covid-19 pandemic response; With the Covid-19 pandemic out of Nigeria’s responsibility, there has been a lack of transparency in the emergency response of the government. Coupled with the gap in coordination, the process has been fraught by the incessant flouting of procurement guidelines, hoarding of relief materials, and diversion of these materials which are then used as personal souvenirs presented to political party loyalists and close associates.
“We find it disturbing that in some cases, supplies donated by a group of well-meaning Nigerian business persons, corporate entities, development partners, and others under the Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID) were left inexplicably undistributed, and in some cases rotten, by the federal and state governments. While these occurrences are not specific to Nigeria, citizens are yet to see concrete action by the anti-graft agencies on these issues.”
Meanwhile, the report called on the government and her supporters to examine the drivers behind Nigeria’s deteriorating anti-corruption image and consider actions, which will tackle systemic corruption, which it made some recommendations to salvage the situation.
“We guarantee that the perception will improve in the short term. As law-abiding citizens, CISLAC/TI and other partner organizations are willing to work with state and non-state actors on how to collectively improve Nigeria’s fight against corruption as we have always done in the past.
“To this effect, we will like to advise the government to implement these recommendations: Transparency in the utilization of Covid-19 relief funds by state and non-state actors must be ensured. The National Assembly and relevant anti-graft agencies must follow up cases of corruption in the Covid-19 response process and reports from the Auditor General’s office. The office of the Auditor-General should also be strengthened to carry out an audit of the Covid-19 relief process.
“Public servants should be appointed, appraised, and promoted on merit to reduce the level of nepotism and favouritism. Lop-sidedness in appointments increases the perception of corruption of the due process.
“The National Assembly should speed up the deliberation and passage of relevant anti-corruption related laws or amendments to strengthen the anti-corruption efforts in the interest of Nigerians. The presidency should assent to these laws once they are passed while taking into consideration the best interest of citizens.
“The government should commit to police reform by ensuring the full implementation of the Police Act 2020, support the ongoing judicial panels of inquiries and prioritize the welfare of the personnel of the Nigerian Police.
“The government should put in place a transparent monitoring framework for Security votes. The government should also ensure that these funds are channelled to security and defense agencies.
“The Federal Government should urgently constitute the National Council on Public Procurement (NCPP) to actively coordinate the activities of the Bureau of Public Procurement and give full effect to the Public Procurement Act 2007.
“The government must ensure democratic and free civic space for engagement with the citizenry and the media.
“We call on revenue-generating agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the National Ports Authority, and the Nigerian Customs Service to ensure that they improve efforts to curb extortion and bribery among their officials.
“There is also a need to operationalize the anti-corruption strategy to ensure that anti-corruption efforts are not concentrated at the federal level alone. Also, other arms of government need to be involved in the fight against corruption. It shouldn’t be left alone to the executive alone.”

Featured

Tinubu Signs Four Tax Reform Bills Into Law …Says Nigeria Open For Business 

Published

on

President Bola Tinubu yesterday signed into law four tax reform bills aimed at transforming Nigeria’s fiscal and revenue framework.

The four bills include: the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.

They were passed by the National Assembly after months of consultations with various interest groups and stakeholders.

The ceremony took place at the Presidential Villa, yesterday.

The ceremony was witnessed by the leadership of the National Assembly and some legislators, governors, ministers, and aides of the President.

The presidency had earlier stated that the laws would transform tax administration in the country, increase revenue generation, improve the business environment, and give a boost to domestic and foreign investments.

“When the new tax laws become operational, they are expected to significantly transform tax administration in the country, leading to increased revenue generation, improved business environment, and a boost in domestic and foreign investments,” Special Adviser to the President on Media, Bayo Onanuga said on Wednesday.

Before the signing of the four bills, President Tinubu had earlier yesterday, said the tax reform bills will reset Nigeria’s economic trajectory and simplify its complex fiscal landscape.

Announcing the development via his official X handle, yesterday, the President declared, “In a few hours, I will sign four landmark tax reform bills into law, ushering in a bold new era of economic governance in our country.”

Tinubu made a call to investors and citizens alike, saying, “Let the world know that Nigeria is open for business, and this time, everyone has a fair shot.”

He described the bills as not just technical adjustments but a direct intervention to ease burdens on struggling Nigerians.

“These reforms go beyond streamlining tax codes. They deliver the first major, pro-people tax cuts in a generation, targeted relief for low-income earners, small businesses, and families working hard to make ends meet,” Tinubu wrote.

According to the President, “They will unify our fragmented tax system, eliminate wasteful duplications, cut red tape, restore investor confidence, and entrench transparency and coordination at every level.”

He added that the long-standing burden of Nigeria’s tax structure had unfairly weighed down the vulnerable while enabling inefficiency.

The tax reforms, first introduced in October 2024, were part of Tinubu’s post-subsidy-removal recovery plan, aimed at expanding revenue without stifling productivity.

However, the bills faced turbulence at the National Assembly and amongst some state governors who rejected its passing in 2024.

At the NASS, the bills sparked heated debate, particularly around the revenue-sharing structure, which governors from the North opposed.

They warned that a shift toward derivation-based allocations, especially with VAT, could tilt fiscal balance in favour of southern states with stronger consumption bases.

After prolonged dialogue, the VAT rate remained at 7.5 per cent, and a new exemption was introduced to shield minimum wage earners from personal income tax.

By May 2025, the National Assembly passed the harmonised versions with broad support, driven in part by pressure from economic stakeholders and international observers who welcomed the clarity and efficiency the reforms promised.

In his tweet, Tinubu stressed that this is just the beginning of Nigeria’s tax evolution.

“We are laying the foundation for a tax regime that is fair, transparent, and fit for a modern, ambitious Nigeria.

“A tax regime that rewards enterprise, protects the vulnerable, and mobilises revenue without punishing productivity,” he stated.

He further acknowledged the contributions of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee, the National Assembly, and Nigeria’s subnational governments.

The President added, “We are not just signing tax bills but rewriting the social contract.

“We are not there yet, but we are firmly on the road.”

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading

Featured

Senate Issues 10-Day Ultimatum As NNPCL Dodges ?210trn Audit Hearing 

Published

on

The Senate has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over its failure to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts probing alleged financial discrepancies amounting to over ?210 trillion in its audited reports from 2017 to 2023.

Despite being summoned, no officials or external auditors from NNPCL showed up yesterday.

However, representatives from the representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and Department of State Services were present.

Angered by the NNPCL’s absence, the committee, yesterday, issued a 10-day ultimatum, demanding the company’s top executives to appear before the panel by July 10 or face constitutional sanctions.

A letter from NNPCL’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun, dated June 25, was read at the session.

It cited an ongoing management retreat and requested a two-month extension to prepare necessary documents and responses.

The letter partly read, “Having carefully reviewed your request, we hereby request your kind consideration to reschedule the engagement for a period of two months from now to enable us to collate the requested information and documentation.

“Furthermore, members of the Board and the senior management team of NNPC Limited are currently out of the office for a retreat, which makes it difficult to attend the rescheduled session on Thursday, 26th June, 2025.

“While appreciating the opportunity provided and the importance of this engagement, we reassure you of our commitment to the success of this exercise. Please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

But lawmakers rejected the request.

The Committee Chairman, Senator Aliyu Wadada, said NNPCL was not expected to submit documents, but rather provide verbal responses to 11 key questions previously sent.

“For an institution like NNPCL to ask for two months to respond to questions from its own audited records is unacceptable,” Wadada stated.

“If they fail to show up by July 10, we will invoke our constitutional powers. The Nigerian people deserve answers,” he warned.

Other lawmakers echoed similar frustrations.

Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) insisted that NNPCL’s Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari, must personally lead the delegation at the next hearing.

The Tide reports that Ojulari took over from Mele Kyari on April 2, 2025.

Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi (Ebonyi North) said the two-month request suggested the company had no answers, but the committee would still grant a fair hearing by reconvening on July 10.

Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) warned the NNPCL against undermining the Senate, saying, “If they fail to appear again, Nigerians will know the Senate is not a toothless bulldog.”

Last week, the Senate panel grilled Segun and other top executives over what they described as “mind-boggling” irregularities in NNPCL’s financial statements.

The Senate flagged ?103 trillion in accrued expenses, including ?600 billion in retention fees, legal, and auditing costs—without supporting documentation.

Also questioned was another ?103 trillion listed under receivables. Just before the hearing, NNPCL submitted a revised report contradicting the previously published figures, raising more concerns.

The committee has demanded detailed answers to 11 specific queries and warned that failure to comply could trigger legislative consequences.

 

 

 

Continue Reading

Featured

17 Million Nigerians Travelled Abroad In One Year -NANTA 

Published

on

The National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) said over 17 million Nigerians travelled out between 2023 and 2024.

This is as the association announced that it would be organising a maiden edition of Eastern Travel Market 2025 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital from 27th to 30th August, 2025.

Vice Chairman of NANTA, Eastern Zone, Hope Ehiogie, disclosed this during a news briefing in Port Harcourt.

Ehiogie explained that the event aims to bring together over 1,000 travel professionals to discuss the future of the industry in the nation and give visibility to airlines, hospitality firms, hospitals and institutions in the South-South and South-East, tagged Eastern Zone.

He stated that the 17 million number marks a significant increase in overseas travel and tours.

According to him, “Nigerian travel industry has seen significant growth, with 17 million people traveling out of the country in 2023”.

Ehiogie further said the potential of tourism and travel would bring in over $12 million into the nation’s economy by 2026, saying it would be a major spike in the sector, as 2024 recorded about $4 million.

“The potential of tourism and travel is that it can generate about $12 million for the nation’s economy by 2026. Last year it was $4 million.

“In the area of travels, over 17 million Nigerians traveled out of the country two years ago for different purposes. This included, health, religious purposes, visit, education and others,” Ehiogie said.

While highlighting the potential of Nigeria’s tourism, he said the hospitality industry in Nigeria has come of age, saying it is now second to none.

The Vice Chairman of NANTA, Eastern Zone further said, “We are not creating an enabling environment for business to thrive. We need to support the industry and provide the necessary infrastructure for growth.”

He said the country has a lot of tourism potential, especially as the government is now showing interest in and supporting the sector.

Ehiogie emphasized that NANTA has been working to support the industry with initiatives such as training schools and platforms for airlines and hotels to sell their products.

He added, “We now have about four to five training schools in the region, and within two years, the first set of students will graduate. We are helping airlines sell tickets and hotels sell their rooms.”

Also speaking, former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NANTA, Stephen Isokariari of Dial Travels, called for more support from the industry.

Isokariari stated, “We need to work together to grow the industry and contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

“With the right support and infrastructure, the Nigerian travel industry has the potential to make a significant contribution to the nation’s economy.”

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending