CIVIL Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called for stronger action against corruption in Nigeria in the wake of the release of the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI).

Nigeria, yesterday, dropped two places to 142nd out of 182 countries in the 2025 CPI, scoring 26 out of 100, according to TI’s latest assessment of public sector corruption.

Although the country retained the same score it posted in 2024, its movement from 140th to 142nd shows stagnation in its anti-corruption efforts amid persistent governance challenges.
The CPI, released yesterday, ranks countries on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

TI noted that the global average dropped to 42, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50. Nigeria’s score of 26 remains far below both the global average and the sub-Saharan African average of 33.

The latest ranking places Nigeria behind 33 other African countries. Seychelles topped the continent with 68 points, followed by Cabo Verde (62), Botswana (58) and Rwanda (58).
Other African countries ahead of Nigeria include Mauritius, Namibia, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and Egypt.

Nigeria shares the 142nd position with Cameroon, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Guatemala and Papua New Guinea.

Over the years, Nigeria’s CPI scores have fluctuated but remained consistently low.
The country ranked 146th with 26 points in 2019, dropped to 154th with 24 points in 2021, improved to 145th with 25 points in 2023, and rose slightly to 140th with 26 points in 2024.

Between 1996 and 2023, it recorded an average CPI score of 21.48, with its highest score of 28 points in 2016 and its lowest at 6.9 points in 1996.

Presenting the report to journalists in Abuja yesterday, the Executive Director of CISLAC and Head of TI Nigeria, Auwal Rafsanjani, described the ranking as a development Nigerians should be concerned about.

“This is something we should be worried about. With all that is happening in this country, we should not be surprised that we are a stagnating country. It is possible to overturn this if we can work together,” Rafsanjani said.

He noted that Nigeria’s unchanged score reflected stagnation in the fight against corruption rather than an outright decline in the performance of anti-corruption agencies, some of which it said had continued to demonstrate commitment despite systemic constraints.
He, however, highlighted positive developments, particularly in asset recovery efforts.

According to CISLAC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recovered over N566 billion, $411 million and 1,502 properties between October 2023 and September 2025, while the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) recovered N37.44 billion and $2.353 million in 2025.

CISLAC also cited international cooperation on asset recovery, including an agreement by the UK Crown Dependency of Jersey last month to repatriate over $9.5 million in assets linked to corruption for critical infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

Rafsanjani acknowledged Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025, following the implementation of a 19-point action plan to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.

Despite these gains, CISLAC raised concerns over entrenched structural weaknesses, including judicial corruption, allegations of bias and nepotism in appointments, weakening opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general election, corruption in the power sector, oil theft and subsidy fraud, and declining public confidence in the justice system.
It noted shrinking civic space, limited compliance with the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act by public institutions, and reports of attacks on journalists and activists, with at least 86 incidents recorded in 2025.

The organisation called for reforms, including strengthening the institutional independence of anti-corruption agencies, improving transparency in judicial appointments, full digitisation of procurement processes, public disclosure of recovered assets, and reforms in the security sector.

It also urged the National Assembly to pass the Whistleblower Protection Bill, amend the Electoral Act to mandate electronic transmission of election results, and ensure strict adherence to constitutional provisions on budgetary appropriations.