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Nigeria dropped two places from its previous ranking in the latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI) recently released by the Transparency International (TI). The country scored 26 points out of 100 to rank 142 out of the 182 countries under review in 2025. In Africa, Seychelles led with 68 points, with Cape Verde and Botswana pooling 62 and 58 points for second and third positions, respectively. The points scored by Nigeria fell short of the sub-Saharan Africa average of 33 points. Nigeria’s 142nd position is jointly shared with Cameroon, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Guatemala, and Papua New Guinea. It is quite unfortunate that African countries, such as Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, and Egypt rank higher than Nigeria in the latest CPI ranking.
In the last 20 years, the country’s CPI ranking has hovered between 24 and 28 points. Since 2016, when the country registered its highest ranking of 28 marks, Nigeria’s CPI ranking has constantly witnessed a slide. According to Maira Martini, Chief Executive Officer of Transparency International, “We’re seeing a concerning picture of long-term decline in leadership to tackle corruption. At a time of climate crisis, instability, and polarisation, the world needs accountable leaders and independent institutions to protect the public interest – yet, too often, they are falling short.”
Nigeria’s 142nd ranking is a sad commentary on its anti-corruption war. Over the years, corruption has continued to hamper the capacity of the government to effectively ensure the welfare of its citizens. Corruption is endemic in government circles and also widespread in the private sector. A research conducted in 2012 showed that over $400 billion had been lost to corruption since Nigeria’s independence in 1960. Nigeria’s energy wealth has been the worst hit. Thousands of barrels of crude oil are stolen daily. While political leaders and their cronies live in opulence, the masses live in abject poverty. Sadly, not less than 133million Nigerians are suffering from multi-dimensional poverty.
Humongous perks of office, which make our political office holders among the highest paid in the world, cannot be sustainable in a country where the minimum wage of public servants is a paltry N70,000 per month. Corruption has been entrenched from the local government to the federal level. The media is awash with stories of money laundering among government officials, contract fraud, embezzlement, diversion of funds through ghost workers, appropriation of workers’ salaries by state actors and petty bribery. These corrupt practices cost the Nigerian government billions of dollars yearly, which would have been channeled into capital projects and the welfare of citizens.
In a country where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) have been operating for years, the current 26 per cent points recorded in 2025 in CPI index does not call for celebration. It is an indictment on the war against corruption. Therefore, it underscores the need for the economic crimes watchdogs to add zest to the war against corruption. The government must show a stronger commitment to fight corruption than it is doing at the moment.
The civil society and Nigerian citizens should be commended for keeping the government on the edge of their toes by highlighting corrupt practices which could be swept under the carpet. The anti-corruption agencies should not relent in recovering more proceeds of crime by Nigerians, especially billions of naira diverted from constituency and executive projects. More efforts should be made in thoroughly investigating and prosecuting corrupt individuals.
The current poor CPI ranking is a reflection of corruption in the country generally. Corruption is rife in the country in almost all sectors. To further improve Nigeria’s CPI ranking, government agencies should constantly make advertise government contracts in line with the proactive provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011.
There is need to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. Doing so will reduce the undue interference of the executive in the judiciary. Henceforth, let the National Assembly ensure transparency in the implementation of constituency projects. Let those who abuse the process be punished. Above all, security votes must be judiciously utilized. We believe that putting adequate measures in place to check corruption will enhance our CPI ranking.
