CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Public expenditure is the spending made by the government of a country on the collective needs and wants of her citizenries such as spending on; the provision of infrastructures, pension provision etc. Until the 19th century, Public expenditure was limited as Laissez faire philosophies which believed that money left in private could bring better returns. In the 20th Century John Maynard Keyness argued the role of Public Expenditure in determining levels of income and distribution in the economy. Since then government expenditures has shown an increasing trend. In the 17th and the 18th Century Public Expenditure was considered as wastage of money. Thinkers are of the view that Government should stay with their traditional functions of spending on defense and maintaining law and other.

Public Expenditures are incurred through budget implementation. The macro-economic goals of the state budget are administered in specific and complex systems which were developed in the managerial information unit of the General Accounting department under the name of “Budget Implementation macro system” The role of accounting in the control of public expenditures relates mostly on setting of standards via budgeting and ensuring that the standard set are adhered to. The accounting controls also ensure the actualization of the macro-economic goals which are viz:

– Maintaining the total framework of the planned expenses.

– Adjustment of expenditure rate to the rate of the reception of incomes.– Regular follow-up of compliance with deficit goals.– Planning of the financing of the deficit in order to reduce the national debt-product ratio etc.

In Nigeria, public enterprises are engaged in a wide spectrum of economic activities including agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing commerce and services. The classification of public enterprises in Nigeria has been made according to varieties of criteria by different authorities. The Public Service review commission (1975:101) classified public sector into:

– Public Utilities.– Regulatory of Service body.– Financial Institutions.– Commercial and Industrial Enterprises.

Nigeria being a mixed enterprises. Eze (2013) opined that a firm is classified as private enterprises when it is funded, owned and managed by an individual or group of individuals.