TI Report Doctored By Buhari Haters – Presidency

The Presidency came hard on Transparency International, saying its report on Nigeria was teleguided by Anti-Buhari elements. In its first official reaction to the report which placed Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa, the presidency said the TI report was doctored by Buhari haters.

It also described the report as an inaccurate portrayal of verifiable facts about the country.

The anti-corruption body in its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index report, listed Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa, dropping 13 steps to fill the 149th spot on the global rating.

Reacting to the report, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement said some notable achievements of the government where not considered.

The statement said “The Buhari administration deserves credit for diminishing corruption in the public service and will continue to vigorously support prevention, enforcement, public education and enlightenment activities of anti-corruption agencies.

“We are currently analysing the sources of data used in arriving at the latest Transparency International (TI) report on Corruption Perceptions Index in Nigeria since, by their own admission, they don’t gather their data.

“This report is not an accurate portrayal of the facts on ground.

“In the coming days, the Government’s Technical Unit on Governance Research (TUGAR) will be providing more detailed information on the sources of the TI data.

“While this is being awaited, the examination carried out on their 2019 report showed that 60 per cent of their data was collected from businesses and other entities with issues bordering on transparency and the ease of doing business at the ports.

“Although this is a government ready to learn from mistakes and make corrections, the economy of this country, in its fullness, is bigger than the seaports we have.”

The statement alluded to the fact that the TI report was doctored by Buhari haters saying:

“We are also not unaware of the characters behind the TI in Nigeria whose opposition to the Buhari administration is not hidden.

“We have repeatedly challenged TI to provide indices and statistics of its own to justify its sensational and baseless rating on Nigeria and the fight against corruption. We expect them to come clean and desist from further rehashing of old tales.

“A naira denominated review that excludes recoveries in dollars, pounds, euro shows that a sum of N1.2trillion was recovered by EFCC between 2009 — 2019.

“N939billion of that total was recovered between 2015 – 2019 with less than N300billion recovered in the first six years.

“Additionally, preventative instruments deployed by this administration such as Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) coverage expansion and the removal of 54,000 ghost workers from federal civil service saving us N200billion annually serve as evidence that perception is not reality.

“Reality is based on verifiable facts and data. And any evidence-based analysis would prove that whether it is by prevention or punitive measures in recoveries and prosecution, this administration would be rising fast up these rankings rather than standing still.

“Organisations should be factual in their analysis and be prepared to rely on inputs outside of sensational media reports and age-old narratives which have not been updated to reflect today’s reality in Nigeria concerning its globally-respected war on corruption.

“In the existential fight against this multi-pronged malice and manifestations of corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that he would take-no-prisoners, guided by respect for the rule of law,” in its final disclaimer of the TI report which it claimed was doctored by Buhari haters.

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