Stuck at Rock Bottom: Nigeria’s Corruption Score Tanks to New Low — CSOs

By Linda Ike

Nigeria’s fight against corruption hit a fresh low in 2025, scoring just 26 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), sliding from 140th to 142nd out of 180 countries.

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Transparency International’s Nigerian arm, blamed stagnant public views of rampant corruption and feeble governance fixes during Tuesday’s Abuja launch of the 2025 CPI report.

CISLAC Executive Director, Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani clarified the index gauges perceptions, not cases, and slammed Nigeria’s flatline as proof of deep-rooted systemic breakdowns.

He demanded independent, well-funded anti-graft bodies like EFCC, ICPC, and NFIU free from politics to speed up trials.

Rafsanjani said EFCC grabbed over N566 billion, $411 million, and 1,502 properties from Oct 2023 to Sep 2025; ICPC recovered N37.44 billion and $2.353 million in 2025 alone.

He hailed global teamwork too, like Jersey’s January 2026 pledge to return $9.5 million in dirty cash for projects such as Abuja–Kano road.

CISLAC warned that despite the gains, security sector graft keeps feeding insecurity,, urging unbiased probes and depoliticised forces.

The group pushed hardline tracking of NNPC oil cash amid the Auditor-General’s 2022 report (out in 2025) flagging missing funds.

CISLAC called for full digital public procurement, open contract/budget portals, and public recovered-asset databases under the Proceeds of Crime and FOI Acts.

Rafsanjani tasked the National Assembly with passing the Whistleblower Protection Bill fast, hailing journalists, activists, and citizens as democracy’s graft-busters.

“We’re ready to team up with anyone to fix Nigeria and guard our interests,” he pledged.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency, Umar Yakubu and SERAP’s Programme Officer, Folashade Arigbabu ripped recent electoral reform snubs, demanding mandatory e-transmission to rebuild trust.

They flagged power sector rot, citing the Auditor-General’s 2025 report alleging N128 billion looted by the Ministry of Power and NBET.

CISLAC noted Nigeria’s FATF grey list escape but fretted over squeezed civic space, journalist attacks, and opposition hits pre-2027 polls risking backslides without bold moves.