The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has described Nigeria's sliding in the Transparency International's global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) as "a wake-up call for the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to demonstrate the required political will to prosecute allegations of high level official corruption no matter who is involved."

Nigeria emerged 134th of the 178 countries assessed by Transparency International in the Corruption Index released on Tuesday in Berlin, Germany.

In the latest position, the country slid four places from last year's position. Nigeria was ranked 28th among the 47 African countries surveyed. The CPI is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. Surveys for the CPI were conducted between January 2009 and September 2010.

Reacting to the development, SERAP in a public statement dated 27 October 2010, and signed by the organization's executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, said that, "Nigeria's ranking in the TI Corruption Index did not come as a surprise especially given the pervasive culture of impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of high level official corruption in the country.

"But it also shows that the government's efforts to tackle the problem are simply not working. The government is shirking from the fight against corruption, and letting down millions of Nigerians while benefiting only a few governments staunch backers."

The organization said that "lack of solid political will to fight high level official corruption remains an impediment to the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in Nigeria. Despite making the fight against corruption one of its key agenda, the government continue to lag behind Nigeria's international obligations and commitments to fight corruption."

"The government's lack of political will and good faith to fight official corruption is demonstrated by its lukewarm attitude towards bringing to justice those accused of official corruption in the Siemens and Halliburton cases; and its failure to disclose how much stolen public funds have been recovered and the use to which recovered money have been put," the organization added.

"The fight against corruption has been bought over and politicised, with innocent Nigerians paying heavy prices. There is now a growing public skepticism about the ability of the government to successfully combat high level official corruption and to promote public accountability," the organization also said.

The organization also said that, "Because corruption is well entrenched in Nigeria, fighting it requires not only a minimum level of political will and an adequate and sensible strategy, but also involves being ready and able to confront powerful interest groups that clearly benefit from the status quo and will resist any such initiatives."

"High level official corruption will continue to grow and eat deep into the public treasury and lead to worsening poverty and economic inequality if the government does not change its policy of shielding powerful politicians from prosecution."

The organization therefore asked the government to:
Prioritise and provide the much needed political leadership and commitment to fight corruption by honouring and implementing fully the letter and spirit of anti-corruption laws and standards, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the UN Convention against Corruption, and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption both of which Nigeria has ratified.

Support the passing into law of Freedom of Information Bill as soon as possible.

Publicly support and encourage the domestication of the UN Convention against Corruption, and support and ratify the newly adopted Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which allows individuals to file complaints to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in cases of violations these rights.

Urgently and effectively prosecute all outstanding allegations of corruption including in the Siemens and Halliburton cases. In addition to effective prosecution, prioritise the recovery of stolen money to show that corruption does not pay. Recovery will not only act as a deterrent but will replace what has been removed from the coffers and thus strengthen the economic climate, and respect for internationally recognized economic, social and cultural rights.

Establish anti-corruption trust fund to address the developmental needs of the victims of corruption in Nigeria.

The list, announced by the Berlin based anti-corruption watchdog, showed that Nigeria is now ranked 134, dropping from its 130 position in 2009 and 121 in 2008.

The 2010 CPI, drawn on a scale from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt), showed that Nigeria scored 2.4 and is ranked 134 amongst the 178 countries surveyed.

On the regional scale, Nigeria is ranked 28, ahead of Sierra Leone, Togo, Zimbabwe, Mauritania and Cameroun. Botswana, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles and South Africa were ranked the top five countries on the continent, with Botswana having an above average index score of 5.8.

Transparency International claims that corruption remains an obstacle to achieving much needed progress, even as governments commit huge sums to tackle the world's most pressing problems, from the instability of financial markets to climate change and poverty. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore tie for first place in the 2010 CPI, with scores of 9.3, whilst unstable governments, battling with a myriad of conflicts, dominated the bottom rungs of the index. Afghanistan and Myanmar share second to last place, with a score of 1.4, while Somalia ranked last with a score of 1.1.