The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says the incumbent administration has not shown genuine commitment to fighting corruption since 2015.
CAN’s Vice Chairman (Northern region), Revd. John Hayab stated this while reacting as Nigeria dropped three places in the 2020 corruption ranking released by Transparency International (TI) on Thursday.
In the latest ranking, Nigeria earned its worst rating on the index since 2015, scoring 25 out of a possible 100 points.
Reacting, Hayab stated that corruption was worsening in the country because the current administration was playing politics with the anti-graft war.
As a result, he said, members of the ruling party received government protection when corruption charges brought against them, describing the practice as unhelpful at a time when the nation should be united against the menace.
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Hayab noted that the war on corruption had become propaganda.
“Nigeria has been sinking for some years now. But every effort to speak out and warn those in power to take measures that will correct our corruption record has only triggered a blackmail response from those around either our Governors or the President.
“We have, for so long, accused previous governments for being corrupt. Whereas, we have not done enough to tackle the corruption going on in the country.
“Nigeria’s rating has been worsening because we have not shown a genuine effort to tackling the menace since 2015 till now.
“The truth remains that corruption is now digitalised, regionalised and religionalised. People, groups and even governments in this country defend and fight to protect one of their own when the person is charged for corruption. How will our rating not be worse?
“My appeal to our Federal Government is that they should stop blaming others and do something pragmatic and effective against corruption to correct our battered image,” the CAN vice-chairman stated,