CHALLENGES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM:

EVALUATION OF CHALLENGES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF IVO LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL OF EBONYI STATE

ABSTRACT

The third tier level of government in Nigeria is tier called “Local Government” it was established with the aim and the specific function to assist the higher s of government thus, the federal and state to bring effective rural development and good governance at the grassroots level. Both fiscal and physical evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of the third tier level of government carried out revealed that this tier of government has performed below expectation. This research work which is challenged of financial management in Nigeria local Government system: A case of Ivo local Government council of Ebonyi State was undertaken to anticipate and comprehensively entrench or discuss those inhibition factors to proper financial management in Nigeria local Government system. It recommended that local Government council should adapt and put in place efficient financial management to maximize the utilization of the available scarce financial resources. This is necessary for good and fascinating infrastructural development and provision of social amenities which will in are way or the other promotes the living standard of the grassroots level.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

  • BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

According to aborisade, (2003) in his write up defined or state that financial management in any local government involves the inflows of payment, it can also be said to be the art of raising and spending money which is ever prominent facts to any local government.

Financial management in any local government system is like a vehicle as whole with many parts, that when one part of it most especially the engine part is not properly perfectly maintained and guild not strictly adhered to can cause damage to the vehicle thereby and therefore affectively the various other part and will prevent the vehicle from functioning, in relate to our topic which will prevent the local government even organization from performing it’s function. Part of the responsibilities of local government is to ensure efficient service delivery to the people, and for any organization to deliver it’s function efficiently, huge amount of money is needed and efficiently financial management must be adopted.

This therefore, follows Orewa, G.O (1991) whom states that finance must be handled with care and disturbed according financial regulation. The ideal is to analyze the efforts, made by the council to regenerate funds internally to supplement those from the state and federal source and finally make recommendation on some possible course of action that will enhance improving the situation. It is said that resources are limited want are uncountable. The same thing can be said of any government, be it rid federal is appreciated that the place of financial accountabilities can be recognized fully in attaining other objective of local government.

Again, the issue of participatory democracy can not be consolidated fully in financial management is not well studied. The masses are represented by representatives since it is not possible for all to be in government. The only way the masses participate in government is any time their representatives are called to give account of their stewardship. The highest stewardship is financial accountability.

This is necessary because governments are established to bring good welfare to the citizen. So, the stewards are always made to do this to those they are representing i.e. the masses.

Finance is the backbone of any functional organization depends on the effectiveness of management of its finance to achieve the aims and objective of establishing such organization. If finance is well managed in our local government then there is no doubt that the organization will not attain it goal and objectives.

The reverse is the case when there is mismanagement of finance in the local government. Lack of funds which are experienced in the local government are caused by such function such as those posed by depressed state of the nations economy. Management has to do with the aggregation of planning, organization, staffing, directing, leading and controlling.

According to Pendey (1996) financial management is that management activity which concerned with the planning and controlling of firms financial resources, for the attainment of sound financial management in any organization, the functions of financial management must be well executed.

This research work therefore focuses on the challenges facing financial management in Nigeria local government, which our case study will focus on local government council in Ebonyi State. Also, the importance of finance in Nigeria local government system cannot be over took, because of its contribution to the growth and development of any functioning organization which Nigeria local government is one of them.

 

  • STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM    

This study has been undertaking in order to identify and analyzed the low internally generated revenue and the challenges that hinder efficient and effective management of the council’s financial resources.

This research tends to solve the following problems.

  1. To find out what was responsible for mismanagement of local government finance.
  2. To know those who are involved in the mismanagement of the local government finance.
  3. To know whether enough revenue is appropriated in the local council.
  4. To design strategies that will ensure proper accountability in the council.

 

1.3    RESEARCH  QUESTION.

  1. What challenges inhibit the effective and efficient management of local government Finance?
  2. What are the main sources of revenue generation in local government council in Nigeria?
  3. What the consequences of financial mismanagement in local government administration.

 

1.4        OBEJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The following shall constitute the objective of the study.

  1. To identify the problems or challenges that inhibits the financial management of ivo local government of Ebonyi state.
  2. To examine and expose the prevailing consequences of financial mismanagement in Nigeria local government.
  3. To determine source ivo local government generate its funds, in order to carry out it local responsibilities.

 

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.

  1. To stimulate further research.
  2. To help policy makers.
  3. It serves as literature to the general public.
  4. Finally, this study is a great importance to local government workers as it is going to bring their activities into time light through showing some areas of defects and strength.

 

    1.6          SCOPE OF THE STUDY.

The study was restricted to Ivo local government area. However, the study looked at the various   source of financing in the local government system in Ebonyi state in particular and Nigeria in general.

 

 

 

1.7         LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

In the course of conducting this research work, a lot of constraints were encounter.

The problem of procuring accurate, relevant and current data, constituted the major constraints that affected the study.

 

  •   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Our definition of terms will focus on local government, finance, management, financial management, challenges and local government.

  • LOCAL: This is relating to the particular area you line in.
  • GOVERNMENT: This is a large societies special institution for making and enforcing collective decision.
  • LOCAL GOVERNMENT: This is the government of smaller units within nations or state mostly at the level of the country, town or district.
  • FINANCE: This is a term applied to purchase and sales of legal instrument that give owners specified right to a series of future cash flows.
  • MANAGEMENT: This is defined as the process of combining and utilizing allocation organization inputs(men, material and money) by planning, organization, directing and controlling for the purpose of producing outputs(goods and services) deseired organizational objective or accomplished.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: This is that fact of management which is concerned mainly with raising funds in most economic and suitable manner

 

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Related Post

An Evaluation Of Financial And Budgetary Control In Construction Industry In Nigeria

Abstract

This study, an evaluation of financial and budgetary control in construction industry in Nigeria , was conducted using Cadbury Nigeria Plc, as case study. Since wants are plenty while resources are limited, every organisation tends to find means by which it can get what it wants with the limited resources at its disposal. Therefore, firms seek  to adopt the concept of budgeting and budgetary control to satisfy their needs at the least possible cost and at the same time fulfill their stewardship obligations to the numerous stakeholders. We adopted a descriptive research design with data gathered through questionnaire administered to respondents. Non-parametric tool of chi square was employed to analyse the data. Hypotheses were tested and analysed on a 5% level of significance and it was revealed that budgeting is a useful tool that guides firms to evaluate whether their goals and objectives are actualised. Considering the changing environment in which firms now operate, it can be concluded that budget, which is a continous management activity, should adapt to changes in the dynamic business environment.

 

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

Wants are numerous while resources are limited but there is every tendency to waste or under-utilise the limited resources by the human factor involved in the production of goods and services. With various companies competing with one another, only few that are able to produce at least possible cost will survive the growing competition in the market. Therefore, it is paramount for every serious business undertaken to produce at that possible minimum cost so as to remain in business and also achieve the corporate objectives of profitability and stability. In view of this, there is every need to do a realistic planning of the activities of the firm taking into consideration the limiting factors and the long term objectives of the firm. In order to achieve this, budgeting – a tool of planning and control becomes indispensable. Budgeting is ubiquitous and has long been considered as a necessary tool in managing a company.

 

A budget has been defined by Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), as “a financial or qualitative statement prepared and approved prior to a defined period of time for the purpose of attaining a given objective.  It may include income, expenditure and  the employment of capital”. CIMA also defined budgetary control as “the establishment of budgets relating the responsibilities of executives to the requirements of a policy and the continous comparisons of actual with budgeted results, either to secure by individual action the objectives of that policy or to provide a basis for its revision.

 

Horngreen (1982) defined a budget as “a quantitative expression of a plan of action and an aid to coordination and  implementation”.  The  Oxford  Advanced  Learners‟ dictionary defined budget as an estimate or plan of the money available to somebody and how it will be spent over a period of time. Both Horngreen and the dictionary emphasised the word plan, but planning itself is found in all aspect of human endeavor, hence planning is a blue print of business growth and a road map for development that helps in deciding objectives, quantitatively and qualitatively. It involves setting a goal on the premise of the objectives and keeping of the resources. The process of planning requires that managers of business to act as if they are fortune tellers and attempt to predict the future course of action to be adopted. Such prediction of the so-called fortune tellers will determine whether or not the objectives of the firm will be met.

 

Adams (2001), views budget as a future plan of action for the whole organization or a sector thereof. Budgets are plans that deal with future allocations and utilisation of resources to different activities over a given period of time. For any organisation to make progress or achieve its goals, it needs capital and to be able to make profit, it requires planning of its resources, which can only be achieved through budgeting, hence budgeting serves as a tool for financial planning.

 

Batty (1982), defined budgetary control as a system which uses budgets as a means of planning and control- ling all aspects of producing and or selling commodities or services. This is true as we tend to prepare revenue and expenditure variance analysis to be able to deduce areas of divergencies for which the management  needs to watch to avoid embarassment as any adverse variance will translate into inability to meet the corporate objective which will eventually lead to disagreement with stakeholders.

 

Pandy (1985) has observed that although many people will complain about budget and its process, budgets are indispensable in a large modern organisation as the benefit that occurs from budgets and its control is much greater than the cost involved. In view of this, the fact that resources are scarce, coupled with high competition that permeate most businesses, budgets when rightly applied, would be an effective tool for planning and con- trol, especially in large corporation as Cadbury Nigeria Plc.

 

Lucey  (2010),  in  support  of  the  CIMA‟s  definition  de- fined budget to be a plan quantified in monetary terms, prepared and approved prior to a defined period of time, usually showing planned income to be generated or ex- penditure to be incurred during the period and the capital to be employed to maintain the given objective. From this definition, we can as well state that budget is an aid to making and coordinating short range plan; a device  for communicating plan and objectives to various responsibility centres and a basic evaluation of performance.

 

Therefore, it can be said that budget is a parameter  which measures the actual achievement of people, departments, ministries and firms, while budgetary control ensures that actual results are positively or negatively in accordance with the overall financial and policy objectives of the establishment.

1.2 Statement of Problem

The decision as to how to distribute limited financial and non-financial resources, in an effective and efficient manner, is an important challenge in all organisations.  In most large and complex organisations, this task would be nearly impossible without budgeting. Without effective budget analysis and feedback about budgetary problems, many organisations would become  bankrupt. Some of the problems arise from inadequate data to formulate and implement a proper budget; and non existence of well defined structure, which leads to overlap- ping of duties. These deficiencies can therefore be addressed through the use of budgeting technique. There- fore, this study traces the extent by which budgeting can used as a good planning and controlling tool in a  construction company.

 

1.3 Objectives of the study

The main objectives of this study is an evaluation of financial and budgetary control in construction industry in Nigeria.

The specific objectives are thus:

 

  • To examine the extend to which budgeting technique serve in a construction industry in Nigeria
  • To investigate how budgeting aid the planning of a construction industry profit in Nigeria
  • To ascertain whether control affect the working performance of employees in a construction industry in Nigeria
  • To find out if construction industry in Nigeria lack adequate skill for planning and controlling policy formulations and implementations
  • To investigate whether inadequate data and records create problems for construction industry in formulating effective budgeting?

1.4 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

  1. a) What importance does budgeting technique serve in a construction industry in Nigeria?
  2. b) How does budgeting aid the planning of a construction industry profit in Nigeria?
  3. c) How does budgetary control affect the working performance of employees in a construction industry in Nigeria?
  4. d) Why do construction industry in Nigeria lack adequate skill for planning and controlling policy formulations and implementations?
  5. e) In what way do inadequate data and records create problems for construction industry in formulating effective budgeting?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

For the purpose of analyzing the data, the following hypotheses were tested:

  1. a) Ho1: There is no significant relationship between budgetary planning and control on organisation performance;
  2. b) Ho2: Effective budgetary control does not influence the result achieved;
  3. c) Ho3: Budgeting technique is of no importance in a construction industry;
  4. d) Ho4: Budgetary control does not affect the working performance of an employee in a construction industry

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be of importance to building professionals and the general public because it would not only clarify but also create awareness of the extent to which inadequacies in cost control techniques can adversely affect project performance. The study will also help contractors, clients, consultants and all parties involved in construction projects about ways of improving their current method of cost management and control.
The study will also be of great benefit for other student researchers’ who may want to venture into the same subject matter. Having gotten results-both empirically and theoretically, the study will serve as a foundation for future research studies.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study will cover some selected quantity surveyor. All findings and recommendations from the study may not reflect the true view of the traditional roles and changing roles of quantity surveyors as the researcher could not cover a wider area due to financial and time constraints.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

  • Construction:In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking. Normally, the job is managed by a project manager and supervised by a construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or project architect
  • Deliverable: Deliverable is a term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible object produced as a result of the project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a server upgrade or any other building block of an overall project.
  • Project management:this is the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavour with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value.
  • Time: This is a dimension in which events can be ordered from the past through the present into the future, and also the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them.
  • Cost: A cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost.
  • Cost overrun: occurs when the final cost of the project exceeds the original contract value at the time of completion.
  • Good cost performance project: Project in which the cost overrun of the project does not exceed 10 percent of the initial budget.

·         Poor cost performance project: Project in which the cost overrun of the project exceeds 10 percent of the initial budget

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AGRICULTURE FINANCING IN NIGERIA PROBLEMS AND PROSPECT

ABSTRACT

This project seeks to bring together existing state of knowledge and existing state of practice in agriculture sector new techniques have to be proven before they are adopted in the general practice.

Chapter one of this project will deal with the statement of problems rationale of study significance of study and definition of terms.

Chapter two will examine in details the related literature to the project.

Chapter three will deal with statement of hypotheses methodology of study and sources of data.

Chapter four will deal with presentation of data and analysis of data and also the discussion of results.

Chapter five will deal with summary conclusion and suggestion

Finally I hope that this project will be of benefit to agriculture sector the student of training and finance and other researchers in related topics

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

  • STATEMENT OF PROBLEM.

The problem of low productivity and lack of improvement in agriculture has been traced to various causal factors.

One of such course is the lack of adequate finance to the agriculture’s.  They complain that they do not have enough fund to carry on with their activities.  We    want to investigate the reasons why these formers find it difficult to raise enough money to carry out their important work.

I will also investigate the ways of eliminating these problems.  Several measures have been taken by the government to encourage agriculture financing in the country but they houses not yielded the necessary effect for they are established.

 

  • RATIONALE OF STUDY

The study seeks to examine the various roles of financing agriculture Nigeria.

Specifically. The reasons for the study are:

Managers of agriculture business will be able and also have a wide range of solution to deal with agricultural financing in rural development.

Agriculture is very important in man’s  every day life particularly in providing food for individual providing revenue for formers and the agriculture sector generate a sizable point of the national income and can also contribute its  quota to the success of the student in our institutions.

 

  • SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Findings from an authentic study of this nature are expected to contribute immensely to our educational and agricultural policies and prospect in West African.

It would also assist formers and business men who are opportune to read this research work in their business activities.  That is it would bring about increase in exportation of farm product hereby make life conformable in Nigeria.

 

 

  • DEFINITION OF TERMS

This research topic has some very key words which call for treatment before anything else.

Agriculture:  This is a sector of economic achinilyes   which provide human with some of their needs.  Or the science and practice of captivating the land and keeping animal for man’s use.

AUTHENTIC: Genuine know to be true

FINANCING: The management of money

PROSPECT:  Way of soling problem

EXPORT: Selling goods to another country

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Influence of audit report on the growth of financial institutions in Nigeria

Influence of audit report on the growth of financials institutions in Nigeria A study of Access Bank Uyo

ABSTRACT

The study investigates Influence of audit report on the growth of financials institutions in nigeria a case study of access bank aka road uyo, the  main objective of this study is to determine the effect of audit firm characteristics on financial performance of money deposit banks in Nigeria.

Specifically the study shall determine the effect of audit quality, audit fee, and audit report lag on return on assets of Nigerian banks. Next, ascertain the effect of audit quality, audit fee, and audit report lag on earnings per share of Nigerian banks. And finally, examine the effect of audit quality, audit fee, and audit report lag on net profit margin of Nigerian banks. The study adopted the ex post facto and correlational research design.

The study population comprised all money deposit banks in existence as at 2015 financial year end. The study finds that audit quality has a significant effect on return on assets of Nigerian banks; Audit fee and audit report lag had no significant effect on return on assets, earnings per share and net profit margin of Nigerian banks.

The study therefore recommends mandatory rotation of auditors as a significant factor in safeguarding auditor independence and improving the quality of audit; and the establishment of corporate governance principles that address issues relating to board independence and committee sizes to guide activities in the banking sector.

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