THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BUDGETARY PROCESS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE MINISTRY OF WORKS AND HOUSING, ENUGU

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION: The financial power of any company, whether it be a private or public entity, determines the length of its life cycle. This necessitates the careful administration of funds and limited resources in order to ensure the continued success of such businesses (Nwoko 2022). However, before the beginning of a new fiscal year, a company of this nature is required to draught its business plan or programme in order to be able to use its funds in a manner that is both effective and efficient in order to achieve the highest possible level of productivity across all of its departments. It is necessary for the management to plan and exercise control over the funds, and each unit or department must be able to use its funds in an effective and efficient manner in order to achieve the highest possible level of production across the board (Ocheocha 2021). It requires planning on the part of all of the different units or departments, and each one must be able to clearly establish the requirements that will contribute to the expansion and development of the business. This essential point will assist the management in avoiding unnecessary expenditure on perfect subject and, as a replacement, concentrating on matters that are more likely to generate attention (Olewe 2021). Nevertheless, a budget is a financial framework that is designed to direct the operations of an organisation for future purposes. This enables the management to verify well before funds are released and to ensure that such funds are adequately utilised to achieve the goals or objectives that were originally proposed for the organisation (Nwoko 2022).

Background of the Study

The application of budgeting principles to the administration of public organisations or institutions is the focus of this study. Taking into account the fact that every business, whether public or private, must deal with the procurement and utilisation of resources (both human and material), which must be used in a manner that is both effective and efficient in order to achieve maximum output, planning and control are responsibilities that must be fulfilled (Nwoko 2022). According to Henry (1980:2006), he said that many to problems of public administration that concept budgeting have the longest and major impact on the fields of administration, impact on the field of administration, he said that many to problems of public administration that concept budgeting have the longest and major impact on the fields of administration (Ocheocha 2021). Also according to Reed and Swain (1997:4), public budgeting is concerned with the planned acquisition and use of resources by public entities and involves the decisions of what revenues to collect and what expenditures to make. That is to say, concrete decision must be reach in order to avoid great loss, management must work toward achieving this both in human capital and financial resources. Reed and Swain (1997:4) put it this way that public budgeting is concerned with the planned acquisition and use of resources by public entities and involves the decisions of what revenues to (Olewe 2021).

Statement of the Problem

Olewe (1995:392) states that every January in Nigeria Civil and public servant show particular kinds of interest about our security matters in various state precisely in the worth have no heading solution. However, the budget has a significant influence on the behaviour of public officers in Nigeria. According to Olewe, the budget has a significant impact on the behaviour of public officers in Nigeria (Nwoko 2022). All of these things are adequate signs that our national budgets during all of these years have left a lot to be desired. According to Schick (1978:178), the process of budgeting has a tendency to drastically overestimate the administration's capacity to assess programme effectiveness, while at the same time massively underestimating the significance of the importance of technological and political restraints. The views have been expressed by the researcher that one of the most significant issues with budgeting in public institutions is the fact that most public officials are unable to make the necessary calculations for the policies of their respective departments. This is one of the major problems that has been observed (Ocheocha 2021). Also, another scholar named Obiekewe (1999:18) made the observation that our nation's national house of assembly and senates do not have the analytical and staff capacities needed to properly analyse the president's budgetary (supplementary) proposals required in order to develop worthwhile policy alternative within the whole, idea about budget in Nigeria boils down to certain factors which have contributed to non-executive of budget plan as it was stipulated and read to the hearing of all Nigerians. The challenges that public officials face while creating budgets, as well as potential solutions to the issues that have been uncovered, have been presented.

1.4 Theoretical Foundation of the Study

The theoretical foundation of the study was based on planning programme and budgeting system (PPBS). This has been a technique in budgeting.

According to Ocheoha (1998:34) there is no known author who can rightly claim to have originated the (PPBS) though the name of Robert Mc Mamara have been associated with the it because he popularized the adopting of the PPBS in the United State of America.

The PPBS Has the following Features

1. Carefully identification and evaluation of goals and obejcives in each major area of government orientated towards greater specification of goals.

2. Systematic evaluation of poor achievement in terms of obejcives that is programme outputs.

3. Measuring the extents to which current decision commit future resource that is total cost of the system.

4. Analyzing of alternative strategies to determine the most effective mean of achieving result to and at the least cost.

5. Multi-years programme planning.

6. Creation and implementation of a decision system that integrates planning policy and progamme decision with budgeting a major innovation characteristic of PPBS is the multi year planning circle with requirement that all decision structural be linked together in a system.

1.5 Research Questions

The following question have been drawn as a guide to the study:

1. How does frequent change of administration in the ministry affect the budgeting process.

2. To what extent does the public internals the budgeting process?

3. To what extent does the administration adhere to the budgeting process?

4. How does the ministry implement her budgetary allocation in order to meet people aspiration.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study has a lot of significance in that it represent a symbol of academic achievement as having contributed to the already records of research in social science.  Again the study shall be useful to the colleagues of the research and the entire student of the field of management sciences as they shall resort to in their various works on the same topic of study in future.

The research should be relevant to public administration in general and budget experts in various ministries and department as it shall assist them in carrying about their budgeting duties.

Nonetheless our policy makers are not left out because it will help them in formulation and execution of policies in respect to budgeting.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study covers the ministry of workers and housing Enugu. Members of staff of all cadrs of the ministry participated in the same way, all units of the ministry participated in the study.

Descriptive analysis was applied in the study the study is a survey research.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

The research has encountered some difficulties in the course of the worker some of the them have been discussed below: most of the department units were not open to disclose some relevant information to the researcher.

The staff claimed that disclosing certain information would be an offence.  A few of the respondents were not willing to fill the questionnaire while few of them even host their own copies.

Some of the respondents also displayed non-certain attitude to the questionnaire this lead to asking questions in order to avoid collecting it.

Time facto was another constrain, the space period to carry out the research has been limited for a more thorough job, more time would have been allowed.

This researchers had to attend lecturers as well as attend other official duties as a civil servants.

However, financial difficulties is not left out because information needed for this research requires going to the ministry in question in order to get al necessary information, payment for the photocoping of document, payment for the product of the question to mention but few.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS/ ACRONYMS

1. Accountability: According to Bayo (1981:6) it is the efficient adaptation of government policies by experienced civil servants through paper unilization of manageemnt system and styles in administration of   material and financial resources.

2. Budget Negotiation: The process of arriving at mutual agreement on the provisions of a contract. The  principle of negotiation applied in several contexts and situations.

3. PPBS: Planning programming budgeting system which is a technique used to  analyze activities in strategic terms (Nwoko Op Cit:43)

4. ZZBB: Zero base budget which is a technique of evaluating from time to time the continued reference of on going programmes (Nwoko OpCit)

5. Public expenditure: It is the action or practice or laying out public money presumably in pursuit of public goals.

It is the process by which public money is consumed