Rule Settings Focusing on Sustainability of Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Projects in Nigeria: An IAD-Framework Based Gap Analysis

Rule settings focusing on the sustainability of public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects will require distinguished steering strategies at the planning stages to foster. Based on Elinor Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, this paper examines the extent to which formal rules prescribe environmental and social sustainability steering strategies in PPP infrastructure projects (sustainable PPP) in Nigeria. We analyse qualitative data from 18 semi-structured interviews and a review of PPP legal documents. The empirical focus is on two jurisdictional governments in Nigeria: the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and the Lagos State Government (LSG). The findings indicate that sustainability-relevant PPP formal rules exist in four categories of legal frameworks. Moreover, they prescribe and cover only parts of the required sustainable PPP steering strategies. Additionally, there is an inadequate mix of institutional relations between these legal frameworks and the sustainability steering strategies, leading to gaps that hinder the adoption of sustainable PPP practices and have policy implications.