Abstract

Corruption is perhaps the biggest challenge to Nigeria’s development and the integrity of the country’s fiscal monetary system. Since independence in 1960, corruption has been a destabilizing factor in the country’s progress. It however gained pronounced ascendancy during the Second Republic, forcing a greater percentage of the country’s population into serious economic hardship leading to the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). This malignant pandemic has not abetted till date. This paper interrogates corruption and fiscal federalism in Nigeria through an analysis of the federal budgetary process from 1999 to 2016. It adopts the political economy approach as the theoretical framework. The study recommends amongst others that the political elites must rise to the challenges of good governance, by waging wars against corruption through institutional strengthening and patriotism by all citizens.

Key words: Budget, budgeting process, corruption, federalism, fiscal federalism.