Nigeria slips to 142nd in 2025 corruption index as transparency challenges persist

Nigeria has dropped to 142nd position in the 2025 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI), reflecting a slight decline in its global ranking despite no change in its overall corruption score.

According to the latest report published on Transparency International’s website on Tuesday, Nigeria retained a CPI score of 26 out of 100, the same score it recorded in 2024.

The unchanged score underscores persistent governance and anti-corruption challenges, even as other countries make measurable progress.

The CPI ranks 182 countries and territories worldwide on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 indicates a highly corrupt public sector and 100 represents a corruption-free system.

Nigeria’s 2025 ranking marks a drop from 140th place in 2024, although it is marginally better than the 145th position recorded in 2023.

Transparency International’s long-term data shows that Nigeria’s CPI performance has largely stagnated over the years.

Since 1996, the country has averaged 21.48 points, with its highest score of 28 achieved in 2016 and its lowest score of 6.9 recorded in 1996. The trend points to limited and inconsistent progress in addressing systemic corruption.

Commenting on the global findings, Transparency International’s Chief Executive Officer, Maíra Martini, noted that progress in fighting corruption remains uneven across the world.

“While 31 countries have significantly reduced their corruption levels since 2012, the rest are failing to tackle the problem – they have stayed stagnant or got worse during the same period,” Martini said.

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“The global average has fallen to a new low of 42, while more than two-thirds of countries score below 50. People are paying the price, as corruption leads to under-funded hospitals, unbuilt flood defences and blights the hopes and dreams of young people.”

Across Africa, Seychelles maintained its status as the continent’s least corrupt country, ranking 24th globally, a significant improvement from 72nd place in 2024.

Cabo Verde climbed to 35th position, while Botswana and Rwanda jointly ranked 41st. Namibia and Senegal shared 65th place, the Republic of Benin ranked 70th, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana placed 76th, and South Africa ranked 81st.

Analysts say the 2025 CPI results suggest that while Nigeria has managed to avoid further deterioration, meaningful progress in transparency, accountability and institutional governance remains limited.

The country’s position reflects a long-standing struggle to tackle entrenched corruption, despite repeated commitments by successive administrations.

Over the years, Nigeria has established anti-corruption institutions and introduced policy reforms aimed at improving governance.

Agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) continue to pursue investigations, prosecute high-profile corruption cases and conduct public sector audits.

However, these efforts have yet to translate into a significant improvement in Nigeria’s CPI ranking, highlighting ongoing challenges related to enforcement, policy continuity and systemic reform.

Experts argue that sustained progress will require stronger institutional independence, consistent political will and more robust public accountability mechanisms.

Nigeria’s 2025 CPI outcome underscores the complexity of curbing corruption in a challenging political and economic environment.

While the country has maintained its score and avoided a sharper decline, Transparency International’s findings suggest that without deeper structural reforms and effective implementation, public confidence in governance may remain fragile in the years ahead.