The Impact of Internally Generated Revenue on Economic Development in Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of internally generated revenue (IGR) on economic development of Nigeria. The inability of States and Local governments in Nigeria to generate enough revenue to cope with their expenditure responsibilities has been a serious challenge. The improper use of IGR and corruption have remained a setback to economic development in Nigeria, hence the clamour from the citizens. This study made use of ex-post facto research design to specifically examine the impact of total IGR (TIGR), Federal Government Independent Revenue (FGIR), States IGR (SIGR) and Local IGR (LIGR) Governments IGR on the Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP i.e. proxy for economic development) of the country. The time series data employed covered a period from 1981 to 2016 and were gathered from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin. The statistical tool used for the data analysis was the multi-regression and t-test for test of hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that TIGR, SIGR and LIGR have robust and significant positive impact (p-value = 0.000 < 0.05) on RGDP, while FGIR also indicated positive and significant influence on RGDP. There was an existence of high correlation between the dependent and independent variables. The study concluded that the positive impact of IGR is not out of place but the physical evidence is apparently lacking and therefore government policies that could eradicate sharp practices in the government system are required. The study also recommends that government official with corruption history should not be allowed to continue to handle responsibilities rather; people with outstanding integrity should be given opportunity to occupy government positions that are sensitive and could help achieve economic development objectives.