Inventing Participatory Planning and Budgeting for Participatory Local Governance in Nigeria
Ayo A. Adesopo

Abstract
Governance has continued to be something of concern to Nigerians, especially in terms of poor service delivery. This problem of poor service delivery is said to be traceable to a number of factors. These may include lack of social inclusion and probity and accountability underscored as two of the key elements of good governance this paper is relying on. This paper set out to suggest the invention and institution of participatory governance and particularly Participatory Budgeting (PB) option in Nigeria’s local government administration. This is in recognition of the fact that budget process is a powerful tool for participatory governance. The inclusionary character of PB underscores opening up to ordinary citizens, through intermediary organizations, the most basic and formal procedure of governance, particularly the distribution of resources through budgeting if only to foster good governance in terms of service delivery, probity and accountability, transparency, social justice, and spurring the growth of meaningful democracy from the bottom-up, to mention a few. The paper also went further to identify the enabling conditions necessary for PB especially in Nigeria setting which may include political will, nature and organization of political system, desirability of enabling legal framework, and a host of others.

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