PSC knocks TI over graft report on Nigeria

The Presidential Support Committee (PSC) has berated Transparency International (TI) over Nigeria’s latest position on the 2019 global corruption index, saying ranking the country 146 out of the 180 countries on the 2019 corruption perception index was the lowest watermark of the group’s ranking index career.

In its latest ranking, TI said Nigeria scored 26 out of 100 points, dropping from the 27 points that it had maintained since 2017.

However, in a statement by its director of Communication and Strategic Planning, Malam Gidado Ibrahim, the PSC regretted that the Nigerian branch of Transparency International that had hitherto been well respected had deviated from the core values, principles and objectives of the original Amnesty International domiciled in the United Kingdom.

Ibrahim said, “All Transparency is doing points to the fact that it is against the government of Nigeria. Based on their rumpus with the Nigerian military some time ago, it is becoming clearer that Amnesty is against all the activities of the Nigerian government. Despite pleas from right thinking Nigerians that Amnesty International should work within the confines of their mandate, it is still trying to incite or bring disaffection among the Nigerian state.

“The group’s effort to undermine the federal government in order to disrupt the nation is what is manifesting in its mendacious and tendentious ranking. The obvious bias and inaccuracies in Transparency International’s recent country reports on Nigeria risk Transparency’s reputation as an impartial international organisation.”

 The PSC also accused the organisation of involving in undercover funding of dissenting groups to protest against the Nigerian government.

“We are increasingly worried about the role that Amnesty International is playing in the anti-corruption war in Nigeria. The organisation’s maneuvers in Nigeria appear as if TI is deliberately trying to colour the Buhari administration bad before the international community.

“Accordingly, we urge Nigerians to be wary of Transparency International (Nigeria) because its goals are to destabilise Nigeria and to cause strife among its citizens. The PSC would have no choice than to call for the closure of Amnesty International offices in Nigeria if such unruliness continues.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has reduced incidences of corruption in Nigeria to the barest minimum. We have seen how the anti-graft agencies have been prosecuting and securing convictions in high profile corruption cases, with former governors being sentenced to jail. We wonder where TI got it data from to keep Nigeria at that level of its index. It is a sham.”

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