Corruption Index: Nigeria drops two places to 142nd in global ranking

Nigeria has slipped two places to 142nd position out of 182 countries and territories in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday, extending the country’s long-standing poor showing on the global anti-corruption ranking.

The country retained a score of 26 out of 100 in the latest index but fell from its 2024 position of 140th. In last year’s report, Nigeria was ranked among 180 countries with the same score of 26.

The 2025 edition of the index assessed 182 countries and territories based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. Under the TI methodology, scores range from zero, indicating a highly corrupt public sector, to 100, representing very clean governance.

Although two additional countries were included in this year’s ranking, Nigeria’s unchanged score meant its overall position declined.

Transparency International noted that while 31 countries have made significant progress in reducing corruption since 2012, several others have either stagnated or deteriorated over the same period. Nigeria was listed among countries whose performance has remained weak or worsened.

The report also showed that sub-Saharan Africa remains the lowest-performing region globally, with an average score of 32 out of 100. Only four of the region’s 49 countries recorded scores above 50.

Seychelles topped the regional ranking with a score of 68, followed by Cabo Verde with 62, and Botswana and Rwanda, both with 58. At the lower end of the scale were Sudan with 14, Eritrea with 13, and Somalia and South Sudan, which each scored nine.

Nigeria’s performance comes despite repeated pledges by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to tackle corruption and strengthen accountability across public institutions.

In recent years, Nigeria has recorded only marginal improvements. In 2022, the country scored 24 and ranked 150th, while in 2021 it posted the same score but fell to 154th, its weakest ranking in the last decade. The country’s best result within that period was in 2016, when it ranked 136th with a score of 28.

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