Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, has ranked Nigeria as the 36th most corrupt country in the world.
Nigeria shares this spot with Uganda, Mexico, Madagascar, Iraq, and Cameroon, each scoring 26 points on the index.
The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index highlights Denmark as the least corrupt country with 90 points, Finland as second with 88 points, and Singapore as third with 84 points. No African country made the top 10 least corrupt list, which was dominated by European countries. However, Cape Verde tops the list of least corrupt African countries, ranking 35th globally with 62 points.
At the other end of the spectrum, South Sudan, Somalia, and Venezuela are identified as the most corrupt countries in the world for the year in review.
Citing the basis of the selection and result, the chair of Transparency International, Francois Valeria, said, “The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) shows that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but change for the better is happening in many countries.
“Research also reveals that corruption is a major threat to climate action. It hinders progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable effects of global heating.
“The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).”
Valeria further maintained that while 32 countries have significantly reduced their corruption levels since 2012, there’s still a huge amount of work to be done – 148 countries have stayed stagnant or gotten worse during the same period.
He added, “The global average of 43 has also stood still for years, while over two-thirds of countries score below 50. Billions of people live in countries where corruption destroys lives and undermines human rights.”
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