BUDGETING ALLOCATION AND UTILIZATION IN THE NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR: HOW WIDE IS THE DISPARITY

This study examines public budget allocation and utilization in Nigeria’s health, education, and agriculture sectors using annual data from 2011 to 2023. These sectors play critical roles in ensuring human capital development, food security, and overall socio-economic advancement, yet concerns persist regarding persistent budget underutilization and inefficiencies in public spending. Using secondary data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, Budget Office reports, and sectoral expenditure summaries, the study employed descriptive statistical techniques, including measures of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, kurtosis, and the Jarque–Bera normality test. Findings reveal consistent patterns of underutilization across all three sectors, as actual spending remained significantly below budgeted allocations over the study period. Budget allocations increased substantially in nominal terms, particularly for education and health, but spending efficiency did not improve proportionally. The results show positive skewness and moderate leptokurtosis, indicating occasional years of unusually high allocations that contributed to volatility. Trend analysis further indicates widening gaps between budgeted and actual expenditures, suggesting systemic issues in fund releases, implementation bottlenecks, and weak fiscal discipline. These findings align with recent empirical evidence emphasizing inefficiencies in public sector spending in Nigeria and extend theoretical insights from public choice theory and fiscal federalism by illustrating how institutional and administrative constraints undermine optimal resource utilization. The study concludes that improving budget implementation mechanisms, strengthening monitoring frameworks, and enhancing fiscal accountability are critical for converting increased public allocations into meaningful development outcomes. Recommendations are offered to support more effective budget execution and sectoral performance.