TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: Management of Public Finances in Nigeria: Will Law Alone Do?
AUTHOR:
AUSTIN AGOM, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, A.B.U, Zaria.
ABSTRACT:
No country can grow and develop without a framework for efficient management of its finances. Appropriation of public funds in Nigeria is a constitutional matter and further addressed by other legislation. Institutional bodies exist in Nigeria to act as watchdogs over the society’s collective heritage. This paper shows that law alone has not attained the target of financial prudence in Nigeria and that the combination of lack of will, corruption, institutional failures and low level of literacy has exacerbated the problem. The paper posits that commitment to due process, value re-orientation, free flow of information, responsive civil society groups and proactive institutions complementing the existing laws can enthrone propriety in the management of public wealth in Nigeria. This way, Nigeria can provide for her citizens, become one of the twenty largest economies in the world by the year 2020 and occupy an enviable position in the comity of nations.