The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Transparency International-Nigeria (TI) has said Nigeria improved on the global corruption perception index.
This is contained in a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report formally presented on Tuesday in Abuja by the Executive Director CISLAC and TI-Nigeria, Mallam Auwal Musa Rafsanjani.
Rafsanjani said the report shows that Nigeria recorded an improved ranking, moving five places up to rank 145 out of 180 countries assessed.
According to him, apart from moving five places up from its 150th position, Nigeria also scored 25 out of the 100 maximum points in the 2023 CPI results as compared to 150 on the 2022 CPI results.
He noted that while Nigeria’s score is below the Sub-Saharan African average of 33 points, most African countries showed stagnation, 90 percent of countries in sub-Saharan Africa scored under 50.
Rafsanjani said CISLAC/TI-Nigeria listed key areas to explain why Nigeria showed some improvement and areas where gaps persist.
“Some of the positive points include:
Strength: The launch of the Beneficial Ownership Register. 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) 202 which supports its establishment.
“To this effect, we are calling on the government through the Corporate Affairs Commission to ensure that this register is updated with information on persons who have significant interest in companies,” Rafsanjani said.
He said that it was also paramount for the various anti-corruption agencies to work with the information in this register which is actionable intelligence.
He said above all, citizens must have unfettered access to this register.
He also said that another reason for the improvement was a vibrant media, civil society and citizenry in demanding transparency and accountability.
He said that all arrests and recoveries by anti-corruption agencies also aided the improvement in corruption perception index as there have been arrests and recoveries of proceeds of crime by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies.
Rafsanjani said there should be a proper integrity monitoring mechanism in the Nigerian judiciary and that it should cover whistleblowing and other reporting channel as well as the disclosure of assets and conflicts of interest.
He urged the National Assembly to ensure transparency in the implementation of the constituency projects and the relevant agencies should ensure that those found guilty of infractions are brought to book among other measures.
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