REPORT: NIGERIA RANKS 136 MOST CORRUPT NATION Nigeria has been ranked 136th most corrupt country with Somalia, North Korea, Sudan seen as the world’s most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand as the least corrupt, Transparency International said Wednesday in a new report. This is a slight improvement for Nigeria having ranked the 144th most corrupt nation in 2013, 139th in 2012 and 143rd in 2011. The report entitled “Corruption Perceptions Index 2014: Clean growth at risk” released Wednesday by the anti-graft global watchdog said “corporate secrecy, global money laundering makes it harder for emerging economies to fight corruption.” “Corrupt officials smuggle ill-gotten assets into safe havens through offshore companies with absolute impunity,” José Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International said. “The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain,” Ugaz said. More than two thirds of the 175 countries in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). Denmark tops the list with a score of 92, New Zealand (91), Finland (89), while Nigeria scored 27 in 2014, adding two points from its 25 score of 2013. Poorly equipped schools, counterfeit medicine and elections decided by money are just some of the consequences of public sector corruption, the anti-graft agency said. It added that “bribes and backroom deals don’t just steal resources from the most vulnerable – they undermine justice and economic development, and destroy public trust in government and leaders.” “Countries at the bottom need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favour of their people. Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don’t export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries,” Ugaz said. The scores of several countries rose or fell by four points or more. The biggest falls were in Turkey (-5), Angola, China, Malawi and Rwanda (all -4). On the other hand, the biggest improvers were Côte d´Ivoire, Egypt, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (+5), Afghanistan, Jordan, Mali and Swaziland (+4). The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption. Countries’ scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs, the anti-sleaze watchdog said. Source: Daily Trust
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:59:26 +0000
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