The Buhari Media Organisation, BMO, on Thursday reacted to the 2019 Corruption Perception Index, released by Transparency International.
It said the report on Nigeria’s anti-corruption war is not only opaque but also not a reflection of the reality on ground.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said it is uncharitable for TI to conclude that the anti-graft war in Nigeria is not delivering results.
BMO also stated that Nigeria’s rating in the group’s Corruption Perception Index 2019, is based strictly on the authors’ definition of perception.
“Here is a group that went to some length to acknowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari has since 2015 introduced what it described as important reforms that have saved billions of naira.
“It also argued, in its own words, that the introduction of the Single Treasury Account (TSA) eliminated continuous leakages in most MDAs.
“But, despite these, TI still went ahead to rank Nigeria very low, lower than even Ghana that was recently adjudged as the second most corrupt country in Africa by an international body, based on what it said is the perception of business community and country experts of the level of corruption in the public sector’.
“We wonder how the so-called experts concluded that the anti-corruption war is not delivering results when TI’s Nigeria representative, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani himself admitted in his opening remark that the current administration has since 2015 blocked leakages in MDAs.”
BMO added that the group also knew that Nigerians would receive its report with skepticism when it brought up issues that have little or nothing to do with the fight against corruption.
“Is it not strange that TI claimed that backlash against media and civil society damaged Nigeria’s anti-corruption effort?
“We have seen how the anti-corruption agencies have stepped up the war in recent years with more high profile convictions being recorded.
“We know that the Buhari administration still has more to do to eliminate corruption in some sectors of the country, but it’s not enough to be dismissive of this particular government’s efforts”, the statement added
