Public Financial Management Reform and Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria: The PIVOT Framework

Abstract

Effective public financial management is essential for translating public resources into sustainable economic development, particularly in developing economies characterised by institutional weaknesses, fiscal pressures, infrastructure deficits, and limited administrative capacity. This study examines how public financial management reforms influence resource mobilisation, expenditure control, transparency, accountability, and development outcomes in Nigeria between 1999 and 2025. It adopts a qualitative longitudinal case-study design, combining documentary analysis, thematic analysis, and process tracing. Evidence is drawn from official publications of Nigerian government institutions, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and relevant academic literature. Particular attention is given to the Treasury Single Account, Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, and Open Treasury initiatives. The analysis indicates that these reforms strengthened the centralisation of government funds, digitalisation of financial processes, payroll verification, transaction monitoring, and public access to fiscal information. However, their contribution to sustainable development remains constrained by uneven implementation, limited system interoperability, inadequate technical capacity, weak institutional coordination, insufficient performance monitoring, and gaps between expenditure and measurable development outcomes. The Drawing on New Public Management Theory, Institutional Theory, and Principal–Agent Theory, the study develops the PIVOT Framework, comprising Professionalise, Integrate, Verify, Open, and Target. The framework explains the administrative conditions required to convert public financial resources into development results. The study concludes that digital financial reforms must be supported by professional capacity, credible controls, transparency, institutional continuity, and outcome-based expenditure management.