By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
RANKING OF 142nd out of 182 countries placed Nigeria near the lower end of the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International, highlighting continued concerns about governance and accountability.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the index, which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale from 0, described as highly corrupt, to 100, described as very clean, assigned Nigeria a score of 26, unchanged from 2024.
Despite the steady score, the country slipped two places from its previous 140th position, reflecting relative declines as other countries made progress, BusinessDay reported.
Nigeria’s performance also remained below the global average score of 42, which fell slightly from 43, with more than two thirds of countries scoring below 50.
The ranking also placed Nigeria behind 33 other African nations, the CPI notes.
Within Africa, Seychelles led with 68 points, followed by Cabo Verde with 62, Botswana with 58, and Rwanda with 58. Other countries that ranked ahead of Nigeria included Mauritius, Namibia, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, and Egypt.
Transparency International stated that countries near the bottom of the index often struggle with weak institutions, limited accountability and poor enforcement of anti-corruption laws, which it described as structural challenges affecting governance outcomes.
Globally, Denmark topped the index as the least corrupt country, followed by Finland, Singapore and New Zealand.
The CPI said its index remains one of the world’s most widely referenced benchmarks for assessing transparency, public trust and investor confidence, reports JKNewsMedia.com.
