Challenges of accountability and development in Nigeria. An auto-regressive distributed lag approach
| Pages | 387-402 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-10-2019-0086 |
| Date | 30 March 2020 |
| Published date | 30 March 2020 |
| Author | Oluwatoyin Augustina Matthew,Abiola Ayopo Babajide,Romanus Osabohien,Anthonia Adeniji,Olabanji Olukayode Ewetan,Omobola Adu,Folasade Adegboye,Felicia Omowunmi Olokoyo,Oluwasogo Adediran,Ese Urhie,Oluwatosin Edafe,Osayande Itua |
| Subject Matter | Financial crime,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial risk/company failure |
Challenges of accountability and
development in Nigeria
An auto-regressive distributed lag approach
Oluwatoyin Augustina Matthew,Abiola Ayopo Babajide,
Romanus Osabohien,Anthonia Adeniji,Olabanji Olukayode Ewetan,
Omobola Adu,Folasade Adegboye,Felicia Omowunmi Olokoyo,
Oluwasogo Adediran,Ese Urhie,Oluwatosin Edafe and
Osayande Itua
(Author affiliations can be found at the end of the article)
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges of accountability and development in
Nigeria. In the literature, corruption is seen as an indicator of a lack of political accountability in most
countries of the world, especiallyin less developed countries such as Nigeria. The Nigerian Governmenthas
taken several actionsto address the problems of bad governance and corruptionthat have impeded economic
development,but unfortunately these measures have notyielded the desired results.
Design/methodology/approach –Thus, this study examined accountabilityand developmental issues
in Nigeria using secondary data and then made use of the auto-regressive distributed lag econometric
techniqueto analyze the data.
Findings –The results from the studyfound that a rise in total government expenditure posesa danger of
reducing Nigeria’s economic development in the long run and that control of corruption and political (the
institutionalvariables) has a direct and significant effect on Nigeria’s economicdevelopment.
Originality/value –Therefore, upon these findings, this paper recommended that for Nigeria to
experience development, corruption should be eliminated, and the Nigerian Government should spend on
viable projects and economic activities that will be beneficial to the populace and the society at large and
hence bring about economic development. Accountability is the hallmark of a prudent government that
ensures efficient management of resourcesand transparency in the utilization of funds by the government.
The absence of accountability mechanism allows corruption to thrive, which hinders the developmental
process.
Keywords Political accountability, Economic development, Auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL)
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Corruption is a major threat to a nation’s political and economic development. Since the
colonial period and to date, corruption remains a deeply depressing problem faced by
Nigeria, even though this occurrence has really affected the Nigerian system. There is an
urgent need now to find a solution to this problemthat cannot be postponed to another day.
The reason several countries have in place completely distinct mechanisms to check the
JEL classification –B52, O1, B41
The authors are grateful to the Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and
Discovery (CUCRID) for the financial backing received in carrying out this study.
Development
in Nigeria
387
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.23 No. 2, 2020
pp. 387-402
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-10-2019-0086
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1368-5201.htm
corruption epidemic. For example, in Nigeria, the threat of as a result of the weak
institutional framework wasdiscussed at different gatherings nevertheless; this unpleasant
cankerworm continues to live with us in every facet of our efforts. The government of
Nigeria has taken huge steps to tackle bad governance and the country’s corruption
issues in the past (Ejemeyovwi et al., 2018;Mohammed, 2013). Public service reform is
one of such processes (reform of public procurement, monetization to reduce waste and
these measures to decrease overflowing staff), creating anti-corruption enforcement
agencies, for instance, the ICPC, EFCC and CBN sanitization of the financial services
industry under the former CBN Governor –Lamido Sanusi, which disclosed that the
management of several banks in Nigeria faced theft. Menace of corruption is also being
fought by the present Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Regardless of the achievements accomplished by these methods, the condition is still
unabated as corruption continues to exist in every Nigerian domestic life (Monograph
Series Foundation of CLEEN, 2010). In this regard, it is noteworthy to state that
corruption has its dare costs on the Nigerian economy and is one among the factors
accountable for its underdevelopment (social, economic and political). Being accountable
is the hallmark of a judicious government that ensures transparency in the utilization of
funds by the government and efficient management of resources. In the literature,
corruption is seen as an indicator in most nations of the world, particularly in less
developed countries, such as Nigeria, for the absence of political accountability.
Ogundiya (2009) admitted that corruption is neither particular to the culture nor bound to
the scheme. However, in nations where government institutions and the legal system are
very weak and comparatively underdeveloped, the practice of corruption is more
widespread. With these characteristics, most developing nations are more likely than
advanced countries to suffer from corruption ills.
The corruption crisis and the difficulties of governance and sustainable development
have become more evident in Nigeria right from the inception of the civilian rule in 1999
than ever before. Moreover, it has raised concern in the minds of the individuals, their
rulers and even the international community because, in Nigeria, corruption is what
almost everybody engages in. Achebe (2009) noted that most Nigerians are fraudulent,
the reason being that their environment encourages them to engage in such an act;
corruption goes with power, as anyone that makes money and spends it is accorded
respect without regard to the source of his wealth or how he made the money, whether it
is legitimate or not. It is also relevant to note that corruption in Nigeria has advanced
from the point of small-scale corruption to a high alarming rate, particularly since the
military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. The corruption crisis poses a challenge to
Nigeria’s governance and has shattered the country’s image worldwide. Even David
Cameron, the former British Prime Minister, cited “Nigeria is a fantastically corrupt
nation”from The Guardian (2016), perhaps one of the two most corrupt countries in the
world. It is deductible, however, that this is a generalization fallacy on the part of the
British government because research studies on corruption do not support his claim
(Imoukhuede, 2016).
Therefore, corruption that, despite all attempts to curb it, has come to survive and
political accountability is at the main center of our discourse in this paper. In order words,
the purpose of this survey is to examine the challenges of accountability as dictated by the
menace of corruption and political accountability and how they affect the economic
development of Nigeria. The remaining part of this study is arranged as stated: Section 2
presents the theoretical framework and the literaturereview. The methodology used in this
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