Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines budget as instrument of realising the goal of public policy. Using data generated from secondary sources, it was found that the goals of most policies are not accomplished in Nigeria due to incessant budget failure at the stage of the formulation and implementation. Critical among the factors responsible for the failure are: delay in preparation, late submission and appropriation, cumbersome bureaucratic process of securing release of funds, short fall in revenue, poor implementation plan and above all corruption. Consequently, the paper suggests the way forward which includes: effective monitoring, timely submission of the budget to legislature by the presidency, discouragement of unnecessary lobbying of National Assembly by MDAs and avoidance of temptations of allocating huge amount to new projects while the on-going projects are starved of funds.

Keywords: Budget, Instrument, Public, Policy.