Anti-corruption war: Presidential aide lambastes Transparency International; says agency is not needed to authenticate what’s going on in Nigeria

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- Femi Adesina has faulted Transparency International for its reports on corruption in Nigeria

- He said corruption is not strictly about the government, but also about the people

- Adesina also stated that Transparency International is not needed to authenticate what is going on in the country

Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, has faulted reports by Transparency International about corruption in the country and how such reports are perceived.

During an interview on Channels TV on Monday, October 1, Adesina opined that corruption is not strictly about the government, but also about the people.

NAIJ.com gathers that he said: “We have spoken many times about that ranking and my position is that that ranking is not strictly about government, it is about Nigeria and her people.”

Adesina was also quizzed about why Nigeria fell from 136 to 148 on the Corruption Perception Perception Index (CPI) in 2017; despite the fact that the federal government had started its anti-corruption war two years earlier.

He said: “Some people want to make it seem as if it is a vote of no confidence in government or it is a lower mark for the government. I don’t agree, I think it is a lower mark for the people because the people constitute the country.

“And if things do not seem to have worked as they should work, the people also have part of the blame.”

He added: “As much as I respect Transparency International, I don’t think we necessarily need them to authenticate what is going on in the country; because we, Nigerians, know that there is a war against corruption ongoing and that war is succeeding.

“There are strides being taken. It may not be there yet, and we are not there, but we are on the way there. So, let no agency from any part of the world come to think that whatever it says is the gospel to us.”

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a human rights advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, encouraged the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to see Nigeria's rating on the Transparency International (TI)'s corruption perception index as a wake-up call.

The organisation stated that instead of ignoring TI’s verdict as false, the presidency should take it seriously.

The luxury of corruption - on NAIJ.com TV: