Nigeria faces challenges in sustainable economic growth despite vast resources, due to unsustainable governance costs large bureaucracy, political structure, and extravagant public expenditures. This research study explores the critical issue of the excessive cost of governance in Nigeria and its far-reaching implications on the country's socio-economic development by addressing the abnormality of excessive governance costs in Nigeria. Specific objectives include examining government salaries, allowances, recurrent expenditure, the size of the government, and historical factors shaping governance structures. Employing institutional theory, the research investigates formal and informal rules, norms, and institutions influencing governance in Nigeria. It explores the historical context, examining the evolution of governance structures and their contribution to the present situation. The paper employed a mixed-method approach, integrating document analysis and survey methodology to investigate the excessive cost of governance and its implications on socio-economic development in Nigeria.. The findings reveal that the unsustainable cost of governance adversely affects public service delivery, infrastructure development, human capital investment, and poverty alleviation in Nigeria. The study uncovers how the existing institutional framework significantly influences the financial burden associated with maintaining a large bureaucracy and extravagant public expenditures. In conclusion, the research underscores the critical need for addressing the issue of excessive governance costs in Nigeria. It emphasizes the necessity of fiscal discipline, public sector efficiency improvements, transparency, accountability measures, and the imperative role of political will and public engagement in fostering effective governance. Based on the study's insights, evidence-based recommendations are proposed to tackle excessive governance costs. These include implementing fiscal discipline measures, enhancing public sector efficiency, ensuring transparency and accountability, and fostering political will and public engagement. The study also highlights the importance of overcoming obstacles and challenges facing reform initiatives for more impactful governance cost-reduction strategies.

Keywords: Cost of governance, Expenditure, Capital Expenditure, Recurrent Expenditure Economic Development.