Ayibatunimibofa Franklin Agada And Nelson Ogoja Willy

The study examines the relationship between government spending and economic growth in Nigeria from 1981 to 2020. The study specifically examined the relationship between government spending on construction, electricity, and water projects and Nigeria's human development index. From 1981 to 2020, unbiased secondary series were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria's statistical database. Stationarity, co-integration, VEC Granger Causality, and VAR tests were used with a confidence level of 95%. The stationarity test indicates that all variables were stationary at the first difference, necessitating the application of Johansen co-integration to demonstrate the presence of long-run form. The findings of the VEC indicate that public spending on electricity and construction projects significantly promotes human development, while public spending on water projects significantly retards human development index. The VEC Granger Causality demonstrates that each variable individually and collectively supports the human development index. According to the study, public expenditure allocation fosters economic growth in Nigeria. In light of this, the study recommends that the federal government of Nigeria continue allocating funds to construction and electricity projects, as it significantly improves the standard of living of the country's citizens. The federal government of Nigeria should strengthen its oversight, supervisory, and regulatory bodies responsible for project approval and disbursement in order to effectively reduce the prevalence of fraud and fraudulent practises in the country's public expenditure allocation to water projects. Keywords: Spending, Influence, Growth, VEC, Government, Nigeria 0150