FG faults global graft ranking, insists crusade on course

The Federal Government has faulted the 2020 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (TI-CPI), insisting it does not truly reflect the “great strides” by Nigeria in its fight against the economic enemy.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, noted that the nation’s anti-corruption agenda, which prioritises prevention measures and building of integrity systems, remained on course.

He observed that the implementation of the various reforms, especially in the Ease of Doing Business, would yield positive outcomes and redefine the country’s corruption perception and other relevant assessments in the next 12 to 24 months.

Mohammed said: “For instance, following the release of the 2019 TI-Corruption Perception Index, the government initiated reforms to improve on Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business indices. This is because we found that up to 40 per cent of the country’s corruption perception survey indices relate to business and general public service delivery processes.

“Government’s swift action has led to major reforms in the processes at our ports and business process points.” He added that high-profile graft cases were under investigation and prosecution.

The minister continued: “The emphasis on preventive mechanisms is in response to various local and international reviews and evaluation that Nigeria has gone through, including those from the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the TI-CPI.

“In response to these evaluations, a number of significant policies have been instituted to enhance transparency and accountability, as well as prevent corruption.”

“Even in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of key transparency and accountability policies were developed, and are currently being implemented.”

He listed some of the measures to include the National Ethics Policy by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to address integrity issues in all sectors of the economy in deference to the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) besides moves by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to strengthen the Code of Conduct for Public Officers (CCPO) and the launch of the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) for improved ease of doing business.