The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Labour Party (LP) have engaged in a heated exchange over Nigeria’s latest ranking in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International on Tuesday.
According to the report, Nigeria ranks as the 36th most corrupt country globally, sharing the position with Uganda, Mexico, Madagascar, Iraq, and Cameroon, each scoring 26 points on the index.
Denmark topped the ranking as the least corrupt nation with 90 points, followed by Finland with 88 points and Singapore with 84 points. In Africa, Cape Verde emerged as the least corrupt country, securing the 35th spot with 62 points. Meanwhile, South Sudan, Somalia, and Venezuela were ranked as the most corrupt nations in the world.
Speaking on the global findings, Transparency International Chair, Francois Valeria, said: “The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but change for the better is happening in many countries.”
Valeria also noted that corruption remains a major threat to climate action and that 148 countries have either stagnated or worsened in corruption levels since 2012.
Reacting to the ranking, Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, accused the APC-led government of failing to combat corruption.
“Corruption under the APC government has become endemic. Under the PDP, it was bad, but it has worsened under this government.” Ifoh criticised the government’s anti-corruption agencies, arguing that they were more focused on chasing internet fraudsters while neglecting systemic corruption in the bureaucracy.
