Decline in Governance Costs: Imperatives for Nigerian Development

The necessity of lowering Nigeria’s governance costs was investigated in this study. The nation’s annual budget prioritizes ongoing spending above investment-driven capital expenditures. Nigerians are concerned about the high cost of governance since it has a negative impact on the country’s socioeconomic progress. The study covered a period of ten years(2014-2024). The study identified the high cost of governance as a very big challenge to Nigeria’s socio-economic development and caused by the following funding of pilgrimages by the government, medical tourism by high-ranking government officials, overstaffed MDAs, importation of refined oil products, high recurrent expenditure, bloating the wage bill with ghost workers, project abandonment, high cost of running the national assembly, a large number of ministries, large number of special advisers, violation of monetization policy of the government, violation of public procurement Act, duplication of parastatals and unnecessary creation of some government agencies/commissions, membership of boards, and frivolous and wasteful budget expenditure. The theoretical framework used in this study was the rent-seeking theory. The study made use of content analysis, which allowed for the use of secondary data. The study revealed, among other things, that the government has not demonstrated enough political will to implement Steve Oronsaye’s Report, which is development-driven. The study among other things, recommended a speedy implementation of Steve Oronsaye’s Report by the government.