ABSTRACT
This
study examined statutory allocation and budget implementation in Nigeria. This
study covered all the six states of southwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria including Lagos State, Ogun State, Oyo State, Osun
State, Ondo State and Ekiti State, over
the period of 10 years spanning from 2008 to 2017. Data used in the study were
collected from National Bureau of
Statistics, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and annual budget of the selected states. The study
made use of static panel estimation techniques such as pooled OLS estimator,
fixed effect estimator and random effect generalized least square estimator, as
well as Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel based granger causality test. Result showed that statutory allocation exerts insignificant, positive impact on actual expenditure to the tune of 0.109719 (p = 0.000
< 0.05), and that there is no existence of causal relationship between statutory allocation and actual expenditure of southwest
states in Nigeria. The study thus established that though impact of statutory
allocation on actual expenditure is positive, such impact is not significant in
the context of southwest states, and that past period statutory allocation to
southwest states does not significantly depict the level of budget
implementation in the current period. In addition, this study established among other things that there is heterogeneity
effect across southwest states in the discourse of statutory allocation and
budget implementation. Thus the study underscores the place of states
uniqueness in the matter of budget implementation. Hence state government especially in the southwest geopolitical zone should device budget implementation plan based on the reality, their
revenue generating capacity, without much dependence on federal government
allocation in other to improve the effectiveness and efficient of revenue mobilization and disbursement for project
execution and state management for each fiscal year.