The Minister of Information, Alh. Lai Mohammed yesterday described the latest report by Transparency International (TI) about corruption in Nigeria as “baseless”, saying government is not happy about the remark.
TI, when making its report, 2019 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) public last week, ranked Nigeria 146 out of the 180 countries that were surveyed worldwide. In 2018, Nigeria scored 27 per cent but slipped by a point in 2019.
Mohammed, while speaking in London, stressed that the position of the organization that Nigeria is doing worse in fighting corruption is incorrect, saying “in any event, we are not fighting corruption because we want to impress any organization.
“We are fighting corruption because we believe that without fighting the menace, the much-sought development will not happen and we have results to show for fighting corruption.”
But Daily Trust recalls how the then spokesperson of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who is now the Minister of Information and Culture reacted in 2012 when the organization released such a report about the past administration led by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Checks show that Nigeria was ranked 35th most corrupt country in the world in 2012. Mohammed, however, said “Nigeria’s low ranking on TI index, a proof that Jonathan is not serious about fighting corruption.”
In a strong-worded statement at the time, the minister stated, “harvest of corruption scandals’’ under the Jonathan administration was unprecedented in Nigeria’s history and had been attested to by TI.
“According to the latest CPI, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and the continent’s biggest economy was not listed among the top 35 least corrupt nations in Africa, even when it was ranked the 35th most corrupt nations in the world.
“It is also instructive that Liberia and Sierra Leone, which Nigeria helped to liberate from the throes of war are now doing much better in fighting corruption than the country (Nigeria), just like much smaller and less-endowed nations like Niger, Gambia, Burkina Faso, and Mali are better rated.
“In all of these and more, the administration has shown an amazing lack of political will in investigating the scams and prosecuting perpetrators. “Worst still, key administrative officials have shown from their careless comments that they either do not understand what it means to fight corruption or they are just trivialising it.
“President Jonathan must wake from his slumber and face the reality that corruption is fast eating deep into the soul of Nigeria, having already decimated the body. He must stop playing the ostrich and lead the way in the fight against corruption before it consumes the country.”
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