BOARD EFFECT OF BUDGETING AND BUDGETARY CONTROL ON BUDGET PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF ONDO STATE

This study examined board effect of budgeting and budgetary control on budget performance in Nigeria: A case of Ondo State from 2020 to 2024. The objective was to assess how revenue forecasting accuracy, fiscal balance and expenditure control influence budget performance, measured using revenue realisation rate. The study adopts a quantitative ex-post facto research design, relying on secondary data obtained from southwestern states budget documents and financial reports. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyse the relationships among the variables. The findings reveal that revenue forecast accuracy has a negative and marginally significant effect on revenue realisation rate thereby indicating that higher forecast values are associated with lower actual revenue performance. Expenditure deviation ratio exhibits a negative but statistically insignificant relationship with budget performance. Fiscal balance also shows a negative and statistically insignificant effect. The study concludes that weaknesses in forecasting frameworks undermine budget performance more than expenditure control or fiscal balance. It is recommended that Ondo State Government should strengthen its revenue forecasting framework by adopting data driven forecasting models, incorporating macroeconomic indicators and improving coordination between revenue generating agencies.