The Federal government’s reaction to Nigeria’s latest rating on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) recently released by the Transparency International is one that calls for caution and needs for the central government to improve its attitude towards accommodating progressive criticism especially from international organisation.
Nigeria’s reactions to reports released by independent groups across the globe appear to hit the country on it bad spot. Public service officials have formed the habit of releasing statements that disregard such reports.
Nigeria rarely has positive rating since it began to feature on the CPI. In spite President Olusegun Obasanjo’s involvement in the establishment of TI, IMPACT NEWS recalled that in 2002, as a sitting President of the country, TI’s CPI report placed Nigeria at the base of the ranking.
That Nigeria dropped sharply on the 2019 CPI in spite the President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign and effort, should be an indication that the effort of the government is recognized as perhaps, sincere in stamping out corruption from its public service, yet the government must understand that the fight is only a journey.
However, some sections of the country would see the anti-Corruption crusade of the current administration as a political witch-hunt on the opposition. The Buhari government in its Operation has done little to prove otherwise. There are various instances where opposition members are arrested on the basis of corrupt allegation, while APC members are reportedly let loose on same allegation. We recalled that Senator Shehu Sani, who himself is being investigated by the EFCC once lamented that the government’s fight against Corruption is double standard.
The latest TI report said of political integrity that “This year, our research highlights the relationship between politics, money and corruption. Keeping big money out of politics is essential to ensuring political decision-making serves the public interest and curbing opportunities for corrupt deals. Countries that perform well on the CPI have strong enforcement of campaign finance regulations.”
Is Buhari’s government not guilty of spending above the stipulated amount during the 2019 general elections? Can the government explain why it approved N10 billion to Kogi State Government days to the governorship election?
Another instance worthy of note is the corruption case of Senator Danjuma Goje, a former Governor of Gombe state who was standing trial for corruption related offences. The timeline of the Senator Goje’s trial right from his bid for the Senate Presidency till his case was finally thrown out from this court points to the fact that the FG withdrew the charges to compensate the Senator for dropping his political ambition.
The Nigerian government must note that while it has records of successfully concluded and convicted cases, especially high profile involving serving public office holders and former governors, Nigerians and the international communities are less convinced that the anti-graft war is not targeted at opposition and dissenting opinion holders.
We would prefer that the government direct Nigerian limited resources towards sincere war against anti-graft and other productive needs begging for attention than the FG launching tirades on TI.
The 2019 CPI is a reality check on Nigeria’s war against corruption and the Federal government should take it as such.
President Buhari should see the 2019 CPI report as a challenge to scale up the anti- corruption war. We also challenge the administration to review its decision on the Senator Goje’s case. The withdrawal we are confidence is part of the reason the country drop in the ranking.
We understand that for a country shopping for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Nigeria’s profile on CPI is counterproductive, yet the report remains the perception of experts, and not a verdict. The government and public officers must ensure that they discourage institutional corruption in the public service and sector. As a country we must take a cue from Bangladesh, rated in 2002 as the most corrupt country in the CPI, yet the country in less than two decades has improved tremendously in curbing institutional and grand corruption.
We must not allow the mentality of “no country in the world is corrupt-free” halt our collective resolve to create a corrupt free society.
