Annual Appropriation as Instrument of Good Governance and Effective Public Goals’ Actualisation : An Evaluation of Public Policing in Nigeria 2011 - 2018

Abstract

: Annual Appropriation has been the instrument employed by the three tiers of government in Nigeria to mobilise, allocate, and manage resources towards the satisfaction of public needs and monitored through legislative oversight functions. This paper explored the relationship between budgeting and the delivery of good governance with a focus on Nigerian Police Force (NPF), 2011 to 2018.It is the responsibility of NPF to detect and prevent crimes, apprehend and prosecute offender, preserve law and order, protect life and property, and perform other functions as may be required of them by any Act. Empirical evidences reveal that in spite of increasing appropriation of fund to NPF, the Force has failed in its responsibilities. Dominant opinion in the literature tends to support under-funding and corruption as the cause of this failure. However, there is little or no assessment of NPF adherence to conventional budgetary processes, and its impact on the provision of good governance. Generally, this paper seeks to engage in these assessments. It adopted documentary research and content analysis wherein published and unpublished books, journals, conference and workshop papers, government and civil society documents found in Libraries and the internet were explored. The results of the analysis reveal that there is no relationship between the level of annual appropriation and NPF abysmal failure in its responsibilities. It also reveals that NPF does not practice conventional budgetary principles, which would have factored in their justifiable units’ needs; the politicisation and use of the force by dominant ruling elites has negative impact on the image of the force and the approval of their budget proposals; NPF abandoned its conventional responsibilities for private and individual policing; and the unambiguous pursuit of individual economic interest of members of the force turned members of the public into preys. The paper recommends among others: NPF adoption of international budgeting best practices, the establishment of budget and planning department in all NPF Commands, introduction of compulsory budget seminars/workshops, and the establishment of police Special anti-abuse and ethics department to deal with deviants in the Force ranks and files.