Following Nigeria’s latest ranking on the global corruption index, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has urged Nigerians to rally behind the party ahead of the 2027 general election, saying the country needs a government genuinely committed to tackling corruption at all levels.
Adebayo made the call in a post on his X handle after Transparency International released the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), in which Nigeria ranked 142nd out of 182 countries and territories.
Nigeria retained a score of 26 out of 100 but slipped two places from its 2024 ranking of 140th.
Adebayo lamented that Nigeria remains among the most corrupt countries globally, noting that the nation’s score has shown no improvement in more than ten years.
“Nigeria has ranked once more as one of the most corrupt countries in the world with no improvement on last year’s rankings per anti-corruption findings. In fact, as a nation, our score has not improved in more than a decade,” he said.
The SDP leader argued that corruption lies at the root of the country’s socio-economic challenges, linking it directly to poverty and insecurity. “The fact remains that if we eliminate corruption, we eliminate poverty and insecurity. Systemic graft has held the nation back for too long,” he added.
He further urged Nigerians to support the SDP in the next general election, saying “In 2027, we need a government capable of genuinely committing to eliminating corruption at all levels, which has held us back as a nation for too long. I urge everyone to join the SDP movement so that we can finally say #farewelltopoverty once and for all”.
Under Transparency International’s methodology, CPI scores range from 0, indicating a highly corrupt public sector, to 100, representing very clean governance. Nigeria’s persistent score of 26 underscores ongoing concerns about transparency, accountability, and public sector integrity.
