Transparency International has released the 2021 corruption perception index globally, placing Nigeria 154 out of 180 countries studied methodologically.

The results as released by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, TI’s representative in Nigeria, on Tuesday, in Abuja, revealed that Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points in the 2021 CPI, falling back one point compared to the 2020 CPI.

Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, explained that corruption in Nigeria has greatly contributed to the nation’s underdevelopment.

He said despite successive governments claiming to fight corruption, job opportunities, driving license acquisition, passport applications among others, were still frosting with corrupt tendencies, especially as officials in charge of these basic services expect some form of kickbacks while rendering such duties.

Transparency International also claimed that corruption was responsible for rising insecurity, high unemployment rate, and systemic failure in healthcare delivery and leadership dysfunctions.

“The CPI aggregates data from eight different sources that provide perceptions by country experts and business people on the level of corruption in the public sector.

“While the index does not show specific incidences of corruption in the country, it indicates the perception of corruption in Nigeria. The index is completely impartial, objective, and globally acknowledged as the most widely used cross-country parameter for measuring corruption,” the Transparency International representative in Nigeria stressed.