Technology, Budgeting and Budgetary Control Perspectives in Contemporary Nigerian Public Sector Management

Budgeting and budgetary control systems are essential for effective public financial management, enabling resource allocation, fiscal discipline, and accountability. However, Nigeria’s budgeting processes face critical challenges such as inefficiencies, corruption, delays in fund disbursement, and weak oversight mechanisms, which hinder the achievement of developmental goals in almost all sectors of the economy, particularly healthcare, education, and infrastructure. The main thrust of this study is to critically examine the role of technology in budgeting and budgetary control systems to enhance efficiency in contemporary Nigerian public sector management. The paper relied on secondary data, employed exploratory research design and focused on relevant literature to examine these challenges while highlighting the transformative role of technology in addressing them. The findings reveal that systemic corruption, poor implementation, and outdated systems undermine the effectiveness of Nigeria’s budgeting process. Global best practices, such as Estonia’s e-government platform, Singapore’s AI-driven systems, and the United States’ fraud detection tools, demonstrate how technology can improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability. The paper concluded that integrating technology generally, and AI in particular, into Nigeria’s budgeting processes can modernize public financial management. Recommendations include adopting real-time digital platforms, leveraging AI tools, enhancing workforce capacity, fostering public-private partnerships, and strengthening legal frameworks, all of which are critical for achieving sustainable governance and effective public sector management in Nigeria.