A Pragmatic Evaluation of Fiscal and Budget Management System in Nigeria

Budget and fiscal management system is one of the key clements that have a determinative impact on the quality of development process of a nation. This critical role or the system must have informed the painstaking efforts of the present administration in Nigeria to find ways to rebrand the system, and strengthen its capacity to activate the economy to provide for the developmental needs of the citizenry. This study is aimed at contributing to this governmental initiative. The general objective is to provide a critical overview and empirical report of the macro economic framework upon which the state and national budgets and fiscal management processes are formulated so as to identity areas of weaknesses which mav require some rebranding. The data for the study were collected from secondary sources such as government reports and other documents pertaining to national development plans and budgeting process The study also derived its primary data from questionnaire and interviews conducted with government officials with structured and unstructured questions on fiscal and budget matters. On the whole, the study reveals that rebranding the budget system must be targeted at four major problem areas namely the country's fiscal dependence on oil revenue and its volatility, the external debt overhang, the huge budget deficits and uncontrolled public spending. Reform initiatives arc also required on the conduct of the budget process itself especially in the areas of capacity building for budget personnel, computerization of budget inputs and processes as well as inter-institutional linkages and collaboration. It is also revealed that the inability of fiscal and budgetary system in Nigeria to achieve objectives is as a result of deficient techniques, poor accountability and transparency in the system. Finally, the study recommended the establishment of federal stabilization fund for oil windfall, aggressive pursuit of debt conversion programme and transparent administration of the budget and fiscal system