President Bola Tinubu’s ranking as one of the most corrupt leaders in the world by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project is a deliberate attempt to vilify, ridicule and delegitimise his presidency, former Senator Shehu Sani and other supporters of the ruling APC have said. The infamous award came after OCCRP called for citizens worldwide to nominate individuals worthy of taking the spotlight for their roles in advancing criminal activities while aggravating poverty.  

The group, which coordinates a network of investigative journalists and activists around the world, said the Nigerian leader came third after a vote by participants. While Kenyan president William Ruto scored the most votes, Mr Tinubu was listed as number three, following former Indonesian president Joko Widodo.

Mr Sani branded the award as lacking in substance, insisting mere online perspectives are contestable yardsticks that should not be used to gauge the performance as well as attitudes of African leaders.

“Labelling the Nigerian President and other African Leaders as the most corrupt by online voting, and not by incontrovertible facts and figures is more of a political rating crafted from views, opinions and perspectives,” the ex-lawmaker wrote on X.

A number of APC supporters on X also flayed the award while noting it as yet another calculated scheme to demarket and delegitimise Mr Tinubu.

“Let them keep on deceiving themselves,no be today they have been trying to bring Jagaban down through blackmailing but God keeps on elevating him everyday in their presence, what a waste of effort from them,” wrote Gbotemi on X.

“Who said it and who voted for it. They lies to you completely and they are bunched of fools,” another supporter, Don Tesman Irabor, noted.

Criticising the move as an international blackmail, Ask Fatai wrote, “their aim was to project an image of global relevance to solicit donations, while simultaneously exploiting this platform to engage in international blackmail through polls lacking empirical foundation.”

“People are making it look like Nigeria is the most corrupt nation in this world. When u hear the level of corruption even in the USA then you will know that Nigeria is still learning,” said Yhemite, who also branded the award as inconsequential.

“The award changes nothing from the fact that he is president now & probably will be till 2031! Move on with your lives,” said Ibrahim Abubakar.