Nigeria Slips In Global Corruption Ranking Despite Asset Recoveries – TI 2025 CPI Flags Deep Governance Gaps
Even as billions of naira in stolen assets are recovered and Nigeria exits a key global financial watchlist, the country’s fight against corruption has stalled, and the world is taking note.
Transparency International (TI), through its Nigerian chapter, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, on Tuesday released the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), showing Nigeria scored 26/100, unchanged from 2024, but slipped in global ranking from 140th to 142nd.
The index reflects global perceptions of public-sector corruption and is compiled from independent, reputable data sources.
Speaking through its Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, CISLAC, acknowledged notable gains, including improved asset recovery by the EFCC (over ₦566bn, $411m and 1,502 properties) and ICPC (₦37.44bn and $2.35m), as well as Nigeria’s exit from the FATF grey list in October 2025 after implementing key anti-money laundering reforms.
The group also commended the role of investigative journalism and civil society in holding power to account.
However, TI/CISLAC warned that systemic weaknesses continue to undermine progress.
These include judicial corruption and nepotism, bribery allegations in the National Assembly, oil theft and subsidy fraud with unresolved audit queries at NNPCL, corruption in the power sector, shrinking civic space and attacks on journalists, security-sector corruption, and opaque budgeting and procurement processes.
Concerns were also raised over setbacks to electoral transparency following the rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of results.
CISLAC urged stronger independence for anti-graft agencies, transparent judicial appointments, full digitisation of procurement, public asset-recovery databases, protection for whistleblowers, and the passage of reforms to strengthen electoral credibility.
It also called for the publication of federal budgets and re-enacted appropriation laws to restore public trust.
Other Organisations that added their voices at the briefing include Accountability Lab, Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, CeFTPI, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, Transition Monitoring Group, TMG among others.
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