CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
It is a paradox that Nigeria is a rich country inhabited by the poor. Her poverty profile in statistical figures according to a recent study indicates that Nigeria is poverty endemic. Poverty incidence increased between 1980 and 1985 and between 1992 and 1996. The trend also shows that there has been appreciable decrease in poverty rates between 1985 and 1992 and 1996 and 2004. In 2004, growth in population almost equals growth in poverty since 1980.
Poverty has predominated in the rural area than in the urban area by 63.3% and 43.2% respectively. The trends in poverty levels by zones show that in the northern part of the country, the North-East zone has a higher incidence of poverty followed by North-West and North-Central.
Out of over 160 million population at 3.2% population growth rate, 5.3% unemployment rate, real GDP growth rate of 5.7%, oil sector growth rate of 4.31%, non-oil sector growth rate of 8.93%, inflation rate of 8.50%, about half of the total population (68.7million) live below poverty line (Ladan, 2002).
Corruption in the management of public procurement and finance is a veritable area for corrupt practices. Every state must at various times procure goods and services. This calls for request for contract practices, is that public officials disclose to those with interest in the bid, the position of things, this unfairness leads to a situation in which honest bidders are outmaneuvered by smart allies. The bidding process favors those who lest disposed to perform and the end-product suffers from mediocre handling. Very often, the favored bidders later ask for contract price adjustment upwards. The eventual consequence is that the buildings cost more and are often poorly executed. Transparency and objective criteria should guide government procurements, contract awards and other financial management of public finance.