Abstract
The study examined the effect of value for money auditing on cost of governance in local government councils in Nigeria: The specific objectives were to determine how the effects of economy principle in procurement, effect of efficiency principle in utilization of resources and effect of effectiveness principle in budget implementation have affected cost of governance in local government councils in Nigeria. The researcher adopted cross-sectional survey design which made use of primary data obtained through the use of structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to 167 senior staff in account and internal audit departments, but only 108 were returned and valid for the analysis of the study. Multiple regression method anchored on ordinary least square was employed in testing the hypotheses. The result of the analysis revealed that economy principle in procurement and effectiveness principle in budget implementation have significant effect on cost of governance, while efficiency principle in utilization of resources has no significant effect on cost of governance in local government councils in Nigeria. The implication of these findings is that a good number of local government administrators in Nigeria played their role in adhering to value for money auditing principles. The study therefore concluded that adherence to the principles of value for money auditing by local government administrators in Nigeria will reduce high cost of governance. The study recommended that the office of auditor general for local government should on regular basis review audit techniques to ascertain whether their intended purposes are being achieved economically, efficiently and effectively.
Highlights
Prudent management of national resources is a key to rapid socio-economic development of any society
Corrupt practices and lack of adequate accountability in the management of public funds led to the introduction of value for money auditing
The result of this study revealed that adherence to economy principle in procurement practices and adherence to effectiveness principle in budget implementation among local government councils in Nigeria significantly affect cost of governance in Nigeria
Summary
Prudent management of national resources is a key to rapid socio-economic development of any society This important virtue has eluded the Nigerian state since her independence due largely to bad leadership. The cost of running administrative and political offices in Nigeria is on the high side and requires serious and immediate attention by well-meaning Nigerians. This explains why the development has over the years attracted several comments from scholars and other relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian project (Okeke and Eme, 2015; Akande, 2010) who expressed their deep concern about the danger of this ugly incident. The high cost of governance in Nigeria has serious implications on the country’s development as it has led to: ...stark poverty of many in the midst of the provocative opulence of the few, the collapse of the healthcare system, education has become unattainable as the sky, politico-economic infrastructure resulting to the pauperization and near elimination of Nigerian middle class, pollution of values and culture as shown in massive corruption and indecency, high level of indiscipline, moral decadence, the resurgence of dangerous dimension of ethnicity, insecurity of lives and property as well as political violence (Adamu, 2008)
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