Yes, they really are as bad as the PM admitted: Afghanistan and Nigeria rank among the world's most corrupt countries... yet we give them millions of pounds in aid

Global rankings show Nigeria and Afghanistan really are among the world’s most corrupt countries – yet we give them millions of pounds in aid which could actually fuel corruption.

Transparency International, an international non-governmental organisation, ranks war-torn Afghanistan as the third worst country in the world for corruption, only better than North Korea and Somalia, while Nigeria is 32nd from bottom.

Despite this, Britain gives £237million a year in aid to Nigeria and £198million to Afghanistan, the latest figures show. The total aid spending on the two countries is 35 per cent higher than when David Cameron came to power in 2010.

Two years ago, a report from an aid watchdog found that UK aid fuels corruption in Nigeria, with one scheme increasing the likelihood that locals would have to pay backhanders to the police. The Independent Commission For Aid Impact said the Department for International Development (DfID) was not ‘up to the challenge’ of tackling corruption, often because it was concerned about offending local politicians.

NIGERIA: CORRUPTION

Transparency International’s corruption perception index puts Nigeria at 136 out of 168 countries.

Corruption is endemic in Nigeria, with estimates as high as 400billion US dollars lost since it won independence from Britain in 1960.

A 2014 study by the Independent Commission For Aid Impact found: ‘Petty corruption touches virtually every aspect of life and is accepted throughout society as normal and necessary. We heard stories of parents paying bribes to teachers to educate their children, workers paying bribes to get jobs and receive their salaries, and pensioners paying bribes to receive pensions.’

It is believed that up to 20billion US dollars have gone missing from the books of the state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Millions of dollars meant to be spent on vaccinations and on the fight against ebola have been illegally diverted.