Nigeria’s fight against corruption recorded no significant progress in 2025, as the country retained its score of 26 out of 100 in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International.
The report, unveiled in Abuja by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), showed that Nigeria fell two places to 142nd position globally.
CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), attributed the country’s marginal stability to progress in asset recovery, exit from the FATF grey list, and sustained advocacy by civil society and the media.
“Asset recovery, financial compliance reforms, and civic engagement have helped prevent further decline,” Rafsanjani said.
He highlighted recoveries by the EFCC and ICPC, and Nigeria’s improved anti-money laundering framework.
However, Umar Yakubu, Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, expressed concern over judicial corruption, legislative bribery, and oil revenue leakages.
Yakubu said, “corruption in the judiciary, extortion in the legislature, and subsidy fraud continue to undermine governance and economic stability.”
He referred to investigations linking lawmakers to budget-related bribery and unaccounted oil revenues.
On her part, Blessing Anolaba of Accountability Lab Nigeria blamed shrinking civic space, power sector corruption, insecurity, budget padding, and weak institutional transparency for Nigeria’s poor performance.
“The intimidation of journalists, misuse of security agencies, and lack of access to public records are major drivers of corruption,” she said.
Reacting to the findings, SERAP’s Senior Programme Officer, Folashade Arigbabu, called for comprehensive institutional reforms.
She recommended independent anti-graft agencies, transparent asset management, credible judicial oversight, and full digitisation of government contracts.
Arigbabu also urged the National Assembly to pass the Whistleblower Protection Bill and amend the Electoral Act to ensure electronic transmission of election results.
Stakeholders agreed that without strong political will and sustained reforms, Nigeria may continue to struggle on global corruption rankings.
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