Nigeria rated second most corrupt country in West Africa
· Somalia,
South Sudan becomes most corrupt nations on earth
By
Bartholomew Madukwe
Despite Buhari's anti-corruption war, Nigeria
has been rated as the second most corrupt country in West Africa, dropping to
149 on Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index.
According to the data, Nigeria scored 25 out
of 100 points.
This indicates that corruption in the country
has worsened as it is the worst ranking Nigeria has received in two years.
Nigeria follows Guinea Bissau who finished on
165 as the most corrupt nation in the sub-region scoring 19 points.
Fellow African countries Somalia and South Sudan are perceived as the most corrupt nations on earth. Of the 49 countries assessed in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 12 are more corrupt than Nigeria.
They are Zimbabwe, Chad, Eritrea, Burundi,
Congo, Guinea Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Equatorial Guinea,
Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan.
The report explains that the COVID-19
pandemic created structural gaps in national health care systems, corruption
risks associated with public procurement and the misappropriation of emergency
funds.
ANTI-CORRUPTION WAR
Buhari's anti-corruption war is an anti-graft war declared by Muhammadu Buhari, the 4th democratic President of Nigeria. This is a war against all forms of corruption in Nigeria.
During the president's election campaign in 2015, he vowed to fight against corruption and insecurity if elected. Since his election in April 2015, anti-graft war remain one of his topmost priority.
The anti-graft war was endorsed by the President of the United States. The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry at the World Economic Forum held at Davos in Switzerland extolled Buhari's anti-graft war.
In October 2015, the United Kingdom pledge her support for Buhari's anti-corruption war.
According to Grant Shapps, the minister for international development, "UK is fully committed to helping Nigeria increase its security, stability and prosperity.
"We would continue to provide capacity building, technical and investigative support to Nigeria to tackle corruption. Corruption in Nigeria also affects the UK directly. Where we have evidence, we will continue to take action to protect the integrity of the UK's financial system and prevent.
Some Nigerian described the war as "perfect" while others described it as "selective".
The founder and general overseer of Deeper Christian Life Ministry described Buhari's anti-corruption war as a step in right direction.
However, the president has been criticized and accused of leading a selective war against corruption. Several people claimed that his war against corruption focus on members of the opposition party, the People's Democratic Party.
In May 2018, the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that 603 Nigerian figures had been convicted on corruption charges since Buhari took office in 2015.
The EFCC also announced that for the first time in Nigeria's history, judges and top military officers including retired service chiefs are being prosecuted for corruption.
The successful prosecutions were also credited to EFCC head Ibrahim Magu. Under Buhari, Chief Justice of the Nigerian Court Walter Onnoghen was convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on April 18, 2019 for false assets declaration.
In May 2020, it was revealed that Chinese construction entrepreneurs, Meng Wei Kun and Xu Koi, were arrested in Sokoto State on corruption charges involving bribes to former government officials in Zamfara State.
DISCOMBOBULATE
Ironically, the EFCC boss too (Magu) was arrested in July 2020 on corruption charges as well.
In December 2020, former Pension Reform Taskforce head, Abdulrasheed Maina, who was arrested in the neighboring country of Niger after jumping bail, appeared in a Abuja court on a 12-count charge of fraud and money laundering.
An accomplice Ali Ndume, a senator representing Borno South, was arrested after jumping bail as well.
Comments
Post a Comment