TheNewsGuru

Tag: Corruption Index

  • ICPC exposes corruption in World Bank loans, criticises ranking

    ICPC exposes corruption in World Bank loans, criticises ranking

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has raised alarm over potential corruption within grants received from the World Bank.

    During a recent meeting with a delegation from the Economic and Organised Crime Office of Ghana, the ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, alleged that corruption within these grants often goes unaddressed due to political considerations, making it difficult to hold accountable those responsible.

    He further emphasized that developing countries face significant challenges within the international ecosystem, as it is not designed to facilitate their progress despite their best efforts.

    “We have to understand as developing countries that the political economy of the international ecosystem is not designed for us to progress no matter how hard we try.

    “It is enlightened self-interest. For example, Nigeria borrowed one billion dollars in 1978. As at 2006, when we had the write-off, Nigeria was owing 32 billion dollars and it is designed in that way because of their rules of engagement and dispute resolution. The rule uses the IMF and the World Bank to whip you into line when you want to challenge the debt.

    “How many countries have taken the World Bank to court? Does it not have failed loans? Many of the loans the World Bank grants are marred in corruption but nobody has the courage to take them to court because those issues are usually politically determined,” Owasanoye said.

    He further suggested that the rules of engagement and dispute resolution employed by the IMF and the World Bank can hinder countries’ attempts to challenge their debt burdens.

    Regarding the corruption perception of developing countries in international surveys, The ICPC Chairman cautioned against relying solely on such reports.

    He noted that these surveys may not be impartial and argued for the creation of a platform where developing countries can voice their perspectives rather than being driven by the outcomes of external reports.

    He criticized the use of perception surveys to compare experiences, highlighting the disparity between countries losing assets and those receiving stolen properties.

    Owasanoye called for a more comprehensive approach that includes a home-grown survey to gather and publish data from the local context, providing a basis for informed discussions and challenging preconceived notions.

    “In developing countries, we are driven by the outcomes and report of international surveys. International surveys are not innocent, and it is naïve to think they are otherwise.

    “If you do not create a system where your voice is heard, a kind of platform where you say your own and refuse to be driven by the outcome of those reports, you will continue to be apologetic.

    “Is it not strange that Transparency International will rank countries that are losing assets as more corrupt than the countries receiving the stolen properties?” he queried.

    The ICPC Chairman emphasised the need for developing countries to adopt a proactive and independent approach in addressing corruption issues.

  • Nigeria’s corruption index worsens, now second most corrupt in West Africa

    Nigeria’s corruption index worsens, now second most corrupt in West Africa

    Nigeria has recorded yet another poor ranking received by Africa’s largest country in recent time as it dropped to 149 on Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index.

    Recall in last year’s TI rating in 2019, Nigeria ranked 146th out of the 180 countries surveyed, scoring 26 points out of a possible 100.

    On a scale of zero to 100 in TI’s rating, zero means “Highly Corrupt,” while 100 stands for “Very Clean”.

    This means that Nigeria is two steps worse off than she was in 2018 when she scored 27 points to place 144th out of 180 countries.

    The summation is simply that corruption in the country has worsened.

    According to the latest ranking, Nigeria is now the second most corrupt country in West Africa with Guinea-Bissau the only country more corrupt than Nigeria in the sub-region.

    In Africa, only 12 countries are perceived to be 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. Both Somalia and South Sudan were ranked as the most corrupt nations on earth.

    Nigeria’s ranking on the corruption perception index has continued to drop in the last four years.

    The least corrupt countries in the world are Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Singapore, Sweden Switzerland, Norway, The Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.

    The United Kingdom, Canada and Hong Kong were all ranked at 11 while the United States received one of its lowest ever rankings at 25.

  • FG tackles TI over poor ranking on corruption index

    FG tackles TI over poor ranking on corruption index

    The federal government has described as baseless, Nigeria’s poor ranking in Transparency International’s (TI) latest corruption perception index .

    In the 2019 index published on Thursday, TI ranked Nigeria 146 out of the 180 countries considered, with 26 out of 100 points.

    The score is lower than Nigeria’s rating in 2018 when the country scored 148, four places up from the 144 it was ranked in 2017.

    TI later cited selective prosecution and attack on the media and whsitleblowers exposing corruption as some of the factors that led to Nigeria’s poor rating.

    However, speaking when he featured on a Channels TV programme,

    Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation (AGF), said the federal government has been “doing more work” regarding the fight against corruption.

    He said current realities do not support Nigeria’s ranking by the international organisation.

    “In terms of the fight against corruption, we have been doing more, we have done more and we will continue to do more out of inherent conviction and desire on our part to fight against corruption devoid of any extraneous considerations relating to the rating by Transparency International,” he said.

    “Our resolve to fight corruption is inherent and indeed devoid of any extraneous considerations, we will continue to do more and we will double efforts.”

    Malami added that Nigeria has done more work in terms of legislation, enforcement and recovery of looted assets, and has been “extraordinary” in terms of political goodwill.

  • Corruption Index: Why Nigeria scored low on Transparency International report – Osinbajo

    …insists low score won’t affect FG’s fight against corruption

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday explained why the country ranked low on Transparency International latest report.

    Osinbajo, however, said the report should not in any way be seen as a setback for the country.

    According to him, it is an opportunity to continue building on the many successes that have already been recorded by the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in all the key sectors.

    He spoke on the theme: “The imperative of cooperation of arms of government in a democratic dispensation”, at the Dialogue of Organs of Government on Reform of Justice Sector and Campaign Against corruption, jointly organized by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption and Federal Ministry of Justice.

    Osinbajo, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye, insisted the administration is recording progress in the fight against corruption, noting that perception may indeed lag behind reality.

    He said: “This dialogue couldn’t have come at a better time because only recently, Transparency International released a report suggesting that Nigerian declined in the perception index for reasons which I will discuss shortly.

    “We are firmly of the view that real progress is being achieved in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, and perception may indeed lag behind reality. But as the saying goes, perception is sometimes stronger than reality, so we have to keep up the good fight, until the full effect of our efforts can be clearly seen and perceived.

    “In that regard, the ranking of Nigeria by the 2017 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, released on February 21st, 2018, should not in any way be seen as a setback but rather as an opportunity to continue building on the many successes that have already been recorded by this government in all the key sectors.

    “It is also important to note that the main reason for Nigeria’s decline in the Transparency International 2017 Corruption Perception Index, is that Nigeria recorded a major drop in score on just one out of the nine international recognized indexes used by Transparency International, to ascertain perceived levels of public sector corruption from the perspective of experts and business people.

    “So the drop recorded was in just one out of the nine recognized indexes. The index in question scored Nigeria low on the economy intelligence unit country’s risk service with the decline from 37 points to 20. This is an index that analysis the risks of financial exposure in countries.

    “The question to be asked then is what changed so dramatically between 2016 and 2017? As we speak, the budget for 2018 is under public scrutiny at the National Assembly, the allocation and use of public funds is guided by the budget and represents one of the key areas of consultations and interaction between the two arms of government that is the executive and legislature.

    “The endless number of probes and the use of public funds going on both within the executive and the legislative arms, underscores the transparency of this government and its intention to ensure that funds are used for public purposes.

    “What sets Buhari’s leadership apart from others, is the prudent and transparent management of national resources. Thus, despite up to 60 percent drop in revenue, we have by stopping grand corruption, make highest capital spend in the history of Nigeria, in the sum of N1.3 trillion in 2017.

    “We have for the first time taken on the game changing infrastructure projects. So we are today building the Lagos-Kano standard gauge rail line beginning with the Lagos Ibadan segment. We are also building after 40 years, the Mambila Hydro Project, construction of the second Niger Bridge is ongoing daily, we have signed up for the Lagos-Calabar rail project, we are daily increasing power supply and once we conclude some strategic transmission project, we will see a truly significant and appreciable improvement in domestic and industrial power supply in Nigeria.

    “Also this government has given more to support the state governments than any other government since 1999. As of September2017, total support from excess crude account loan and budget support facility, excluding now the Paris Club refund, is in the order of N873.3 billion. If we add the Paris club refund, we would have disbursed N1.91 trillion to the states outside of their monthly allocations.

    “This government should be applauded for exercising restraint and discipline in its appointment of public servants. The number of appointed public servants pales in comparison to the number of civil servants. The process of appointing public servants is also guided strictly by legislature.

    “This, the assessment of Transparency International inquiry into whether or not there is a professional civil service and whether large number of officials are directly appointed by government should have taken this into consideration.” he said.

    Osinbajo also said that the three arms of government will have to cooperate to be able to maintain a workable institution.

    He said, “And when this cooperation happens, it strengthens the democratic process, promote good governance and responsible leadership, promotes transparency and accountability in governance, assist the executive to be focused and committed to delivering good governance to the citizens and helps the legislature to make efficient laws that will promote good governance and curb corruption.”

    The Chairman of PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, said paying lip service to the fight against corruption ridicules the whole exercise.

    He said, “Fighting corruption cannot be lip service. You cannot be corrupt and be talking against corruption; it ridicules the whole exercise and the spirit of that struggle.

    “And so we should purge ourselves of corruption so that we can stand on firm ground to speak. Some might have been corrupt in the past but if you purge yourselves then you are welcome. It ridicules the whole process when we see people waxing lyrical on anti-corruption whereas behind them, they have huge load of assets and other things which they corruptly acquired.

    “So, collaboration and cooperation is essential because we need each other in order to succeed. But I think I will rather work alone than work with a corrupt person who is not sincere and is just making a fool of the whole country whilst preaching like a pastor about corruption,” he stated.