FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATION OF FORENSIC ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES

ABSTRACT

Public budgeting as a field of study has grown tremendously in recent years. Budgeting is one of the most important areas in policy making as it sets priorities within overall spending limit so as to influence the economy and enhance development. The issue of budget implementation has been a source of concern to the public considering its importance on economic growth. The study therefore examined how application of Forensic accounting techniques can help in providing solutions to the problem of misappropriation, over budgeting, uncompleted projects, diversion of unutilized funds in Federal government budget implementation.

A descriptive/survey design was adopted for the research. The elements of the population considered in this research were staff of Federal Ministries and Parastatals in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Sample representatives included: Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Health, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independence Corrupt Practices Commission, Federal Ministry of Statistics, Federal Ministry of Works and Nigerian Prison Services. A 20 item questionnaire was used to collect information from respondents.

The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics on specified panel regression model. Five research questions and five hypotheses were tested. Findings revealed that Investigative and auditing support service, Litigation support service and Expert witness have collinear effect and movement to solve identified problems in Federal government budget implementation in Nigeria. Results revealed that the coefficient of determination was 75.5% which means a sign of good fit that Investigative and Auditing Support Services, Litigation Support Services, and Expert Witness have positive relationship in solving the problem of poor budget implementation.

Based on the findings it was recommended that Forensic accounting techniques should be put in place to monitor Federal government budget implementation. Also there should be timely presentation of budget and approval while periodic report and review on budget implementation should be addressed by the Executive and Legislative arms of government so as to curb cases of misappropriation, over budgeting, uncompleted projects, diversion of unutilized funds and the role of the anti-graft agencies should not be undermined.

Keywords: Forensic Accounting, Budgetary System, Forensic Accounting Technique.