By Emmanuel Okogba
Nigeria has dropped to 149 on Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index to become the second most corrupt country in West Africa, scoring 25 out of 100 points.
This indicates that corruption in the country has worsened as it is the worst ranking Nigeria has received in two years.
Nigeria follows Guinea Bissau who finished on 165 as the most corrupt nation in the sub-region scoring 19 points.
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Fellow African countries Somalia and South Sudan are perceived as the most corrupt nations on earth.
Of the 49 countries assessed in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 12 are more corrupt than Nigeria. They are Zimbabwe, Chad, Eritrea, Burundi, Congo, Guinea Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan. Both Somalia and South Sudan.
The report explains that the COVID-19 pandemic created structural gaps in national health care systems, corruption risks associated with public procurement and the misappropriation of emergency funds.
