it's nice to be nice
But this is work, just tell it straight, you don't believe you've had a fair review and therefore fair remuneration because you weren't given set objectives. It's not personal, you've done what you could but don't believe you had a fair crack at it as the criteria for your work weren't properly set out. You would like it noted not because you want somebody else to take the blame, but to make it clear you feel you can do better for them than the current ranking suggests.
It doesn't have to get offensive, if you are not stretching a truth, nothing to fear.
The alternative is that you 'protect' somebody that comes over as a mate, you get a low ranking, he announces in a month he's going to Timbuktu to count butterflies and the new Dept Head gets told you're not his most dynamic member of staff.