Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has slammed the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International, which ranked the country 140th out of 180 countries.
The Nigerian anti-graft agency said that Nigeria is making significant strides in its fight against corruption.
"Nobody is going to deny" that Nigeria has "made substantial progress in our fight against corruption,'' EFCC spokesperson Olanipekun Olukayode, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We need to maintain the tempo; we need to encourage ourselves; we need to make people play by the rules, scale up our activities, and ultimately we will get there. Whether they give us substantial ratings or not, what is important is that we are improving," Olukayode emphasised.
Transparency International says its report released earlier this month, evaluated how countries have addressed corruption over time, focusing particularly on how corruption impacts climate action. It gave Nigeria a score of 26 out of 100.
However, the EFCC countered the report's findings, citing recent arrests of foreign nationals from countries ranked higher than Nigeria by Transparency International.
“In a single operation, we arrested over 790 suspects, including 194 foreigners that included Europeans. Some of the countries that have better ratings than us in the TI rating their citizens were arrested by us carrying out fraud in Nigeria," Olukayode revealed.
The EFCC spokesperson further asserted that the agency will not be deterred by international ratings, stating that the priority remains improving internal processes and adding value to Nigeria.
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