Nigeria slips to 116th in 2025 good government index, misses Africa’s top five

Nigeria has ranked 116th out of 113 countries assessed in the 2025 edition of the Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI), highlighting persistent weaknesses in governance and state capacity.

The latest report, released by the Singapore-based Chandler Institute of Governance (CIG), evaluates national governments across seven broad pillars, including leadership, financial management, rule of law, and social empowerment.

Nigeria’s performance reflected deep-seated governance challenges, despite showing relative strength in financial stewardship.

While Nigeria recorded marginal stability in fiscal management, the report stressed that weaknesses across other pillars—such as strong institutions, rule of law, and helping people rise—have left the country struggling to improve its overall standing.

Within Africa, Mauritius, Rwanda, Botswana, Morocco, and South Africa emerged as the continent’s top five performers, underlining their stronger institutional frameworks and relatively resilient governance structures.

Out of the 28 African countries ranked, only Tanzania and Rwanda demonstrated consistent improvement between 2021 and 2025. By contrast, most other countries, including Nigeria, either stagnated or declined in position.

“Countries in Africa have seen mixed performance across the CGGI pillars. The region’s average score for Strong Institutions has improved, while those for Financial Stewardship, Global Influence & Reputation, and Helping People Rise, have declined.

Of most concern is Financial Stewardship, which has experienced the most sustained decline, as fiscal envelopes tighten and government debt burdens bite across the region,” the report stated.

The African countries assessed in the 2025 edition include: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

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The Chandler Good Government Index was first launched in 2021 as the world’s most comprehensive measure of government effectiveness, ranking countries based on institutional strength, governance outcomes, and the ability to improve citizens’ welfare.

Nigeria’s weak showing in governance rankings comes despite a modest improvement in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The CPI placed Nigeria 140th out of 180 countries, an uptick from previous years.

Transparency International’s index evaluates countries based on perceived levels of corruption in the public sector, drawing data from organizations such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

Nigeria recorded its highest CPI score of 28.00 points in 2016, while its lowest was 6.90 points in 1996.

The CGGI report underscores the urgent need for Nigeria’s policymakers to embark on deeper governance reforms, strengthen state institutions, and prioritize transparency in order to move closer to Africa’s better-ranked peers.