The Effects of Accountability and Transparency in Financial Management of Nigerian Local Government (a Case Study of Bende Local Government)
CHAPTER ONE
ย OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY ย
- The following objectives to this research work stand to be achieved; 1) To ascertain whether accountability and transparency has put to check the ย circumvention of due process in financial and non-financial activities of the ย local government council in Nigeria.
- To ascertain whether the inhabitants of local government council have ย benefited from the proceed of accountability and transparency through the ย improvement of social amenities.
- To ascertain whether the accountability and transparency have affected the ย official and non-official financial behavioral attitudes of council staff in ย Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter seeks to show and explains the total overview of what a local ย government is and to highlight the structure and function of a local government. It ย also shows and x-rays the local government financial profile. This also shows in ย practice government stand in accountability and transparency is all about being ย answerable to those who have invested their trust, faith and resources to you. ย According to Adegite (2010) defined โaccountability as the obligation to ย demonstrate that work which has been conducted in accordance with agreed rules ย and standards and the officer reports fairly and accurately on performance results ย vis-ร -vis mandated role or plans. It means doing things transparently in line with ย due process and the provision of feedback.
Johnson (2004) says that public accountability is an essential component ย for the functioning of our political system, as accountability means that those who ย are charged with drafting and carrying out policy should be obliged to give an ย explanation of their actions to their electorate. Premchand (1999) observed that the ย capacity to achieve full accountability has been and continues to be inadequate, ย partly because of the design of accountability itself and partly because of the ย widening range of objectives and associated expectations attached to accountability the further argues that if accountability is to be achieved in full including its ย constructive aspects, then it must be designed with care. The objective of ย accountability should go beyond the naming and sharing of officials, or the pursuit ย of sleaze, to a search for durable improvements in economic management, to ย reduce the incidence of institutional recidivism. The future of accountability ย consists in covering the macro aspects of economic and financial sustainability, as ย well as the micro aspects of service delivery. It should envisage a three-tier ย structure of accountability: that of official (both political and regular civil ย employees), that of intra- governmental relationships and that between government ย and their respective legislatures.
According to Cokes (2010), the various approaches to accountability ย based on the language of account can be grouped into:
- Process based accountability: this approach measures compliance with pre set standard and formally defined outcomes. This includes fiscal and ย managerial accountability with reliance on the use of accounting ย methodologies.
- Performance based accountability: this approach measures performance ย against broad objectives; this measure may be qualitative and the criteria ย against which performance is measured less precisely defined Adegite (2010) also noted that there are three pillars of accountability, which the ย UNDP tagged ATI ( Accountability Transparency and Integrity). ย Accountability which is segmented into:
- Financial accountability: The obligation of any one handing resources, ย public office or any other positions of trust to report on the intended and ย actual use of the resources or of the designated office.
- Administrative accountability: This type of accountability involves a sound ย system of internal control, which complements and ensures proper checks ย and balances supplied by constitutional government and an engaged ย citizenry. These include ethical codes, criminal penalties and administrative reviews.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This topic the effect of transparency in financial management and accountability of ย local government councils in Nigeria is actually a vast area of study. At least we do ย recognize the uniqueness of the local government council.
Though they are much local government council in Abia state, the research recast ย restricted her choice to bende local government council.
This chapter discusses how data were source by the researcher, research ย design, and population of the study, sample design and technique, sources of data collection, instrument for data collection validity and reliability of the instrument ย and method of data analysis.
RESEARCH DESIGN
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The design of the study is the description of various processes to be undertake for ย the successful completion of the work. The research is a descriptive survey ย research. The design will be used in making decision on the data sourced research ย instrument sampling, plan and content method. This is to enable the researcher ย obtain response and draw conclusion on the research problem
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
This chapter focuses on the presentation and analysis of data as provided by the ย questionnaires distributed and collected from respondents. Also hypothesis was ย formulated and their validity test against the information gathered from the ย respondents using z-test and percentage.
REFERENCES
- Adegoroye, G. (2008). Public service reform for sustainable development: The Nigeria experience. Keynote Address Delivered at the Commonwealth Advanced Seminar, held betwee 20th โ 23rd March, 2006, Wellington, New Zealand.
- Anyafo, A. .M. O. (1996). Public Finance in a Developing Economy: The Nigerian Case. Enugu: B & F Publications UNEC.
- ย Anyanwu, J. C. (1997). Nigerian Public Finance. Onitsha: Joanee Educational Publishers Limited.
- ย Appah, E. (2008). Financial Management: Theory, Strategy and Practice. Port Harcourt: Ezevin Printing and Publishing Company.
- ย Appah, E. (2009). โValue for Money Audit: A Viable Tool for Promoting Accountability in the Nigerian Public Sectorโ, Nigerian Accountant, 42(2): 33-35.