The Federal Government has said the poor rating of Nigeria on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is because Transparency International (TI), the collator, did not include data from reforms conducted by the government in certain areas.
Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, stated this to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.
TI had in January 2020 released the 2020 corruption index in which Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points — with zero signifying the worst performing countries and 100, the best-ranked.
The ranking is the country’s worst rating since 2015.
According to Mohammed, the report lacked inadequate data showing improved reforms in certain areas of life despite the current administration’s efforts.
He said the government will ensure that necessary data is available for all sectors, in order to enable TI to access it for future ratings.
The minister added that the administration is working on improving its rating across all sectors, particularly in improving transparency and ease of doing business, especially in the port sector.
He said: “We actually also analysed the process that the TI used in the rating that was used recently and we found quite a few discrepancies in the rating process, including some data sources in which Nigeria’s course has remained flat over the past 10 years
