The Nigeria Corruption Perception Index (CPI) measures how corrupt Nigeria’s public sector is perceived to be. The lower the CPI is, the higher the level of corruption and the higher the CPI is, the lower the corruption level.
Nigeria’s score in the just released 2021 CPI is the lowest it has had in 7 years but it is not the lowest it has ever scored in the 26 year history of the index.
The lowest ever recorded score was during the Abacha regime when Nigeria scored 6.9 out of a possible 100. The score moved up to 19 as Nigeria prepared for a return to democracy. In the years after, the scores continued to dip reaching a precipitous low of 10 in 2001. Nigeria broke out of the Ten’s scoreline in 2006, scoring 22 points after which the corruption perception score continued to wax and wane, reaching a record score of 27 points in 2008, 2012 and 2014 through the Yar’Adua/Jonathan administration but never again dipping to the Tens.
At the start of the Buhari Administration, Nigeria again reached another record high score in 2016 likely borne on the “fighting corruption” mantra of the president. However since then, the country’s CPI score has waned and reached a 7-year low in 2021 with a score of 24.
Since the start of the index, Nigeria has not broken out of the 20’s score line.
If Nigeria’s scorecard were presented in the nationally adopted grading system, the country has consistently received an F9, which is a 39% or less score and clearly Nigeria belongs in the “or less” category when it comes to corruption perception.