The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused the Transparency International of being biased for rating Nigeria low on its 2019 corruption perception index.
Okay.ng had on Thursday reports that Nigeria was ranked 146 out of 180 countries profiled by Transparency International.
According to TI’s new report, Nigeria was ranked 146 alongside Iran, Honduras, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Angola.
Tony Orilade, spokesman of the EFCC, in a statement, reacting to the corruption perception index report said Transparency International has a hidden agenda against Nigeria.
The statement reads, “We insist that the rating is a far cry from the evident strides and achievements so far accomplished by the anti-graft agency in the fight against corruption, particularly under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The claim is evidently not supported by any empirical data, especially when placed side-by-side with the remarkable achievements of the Commission in the past years.
“Moreover, it is quite ironic that the report by TI posits that the index does not show real incidences of corruption, yet it claims that the report is a reliable indication of the perception of the Nigerian public and the international community about the state of corruption in the country.”
In addition, the EFCC noted that in the year 2019 the commission secured an unprecedented record of 1,268 convictions, including that of a former state governor and a serving senator.
“Over the past years, billions of naira, millions of dollars and other foreign currencies were recovered from corrupt persons in the country, including securing the forfeiture of assets of their illegal and fraudulent activities,” the anti-graft agency said.
