Nigeria has fallen two places to rank 142nd out of 182 countries in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International (TI).
The country retained a score of 26 out of 100, the same score recorded in the 2024 index, but slipped in ranking following the inclusion of two additional countries in the latest assessment.
The Corruption Perceptions Index measures perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents high corruption and 100 indicates a very clean public sector.
Transparency International released the 2025 index on Tuesday.
According to the report, sub-Saharan Africa remained the lowest-performing region globally, recording an average score of 32 out of 100. Only four of the region’s 49 countries scored above 50.
Seychelles emerged as the highest-ranking country in the region with a score of 68, followed by Cabo Verde (62), Botswana (58) and Rwanda (58). At the bottom of the ranking were South Sudan and Somalia, both scoring nine points, alongside Eritrea (13) and Sudan (14).
Despite repeated pledges by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to tackle corruption, Nigeria’s progress has remained slow. In 2022, the country scored 24 points and ranked 150th, while in 2021 it ranked 154th — its worst performance in recent years.
Nigeria’s strongest showing in the last decade was recorded in 2016, when it ranked 136th with a score of 28.
Paul Banoba, Transparency International’s regional adviser for Africa, said corruption in the public sector disproportionately affects vulnerable populations.
“African governments must urgently move beyond commitments and take decisive action by strengthening accountability institutions, improving transparency, protecting civic space and supporting public participation,” Banoba said.
In 2024, Nigeria attracted global attention after the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) controversially named President Tinubu a finalist for its ‘Corrupt Person of the Year’ award.
