ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER AND ELECTRICITY: THE EFFECT ON GOVERNMENT CAPITAL SPENDING IN NIGERIA (KEY IJP************938)

• Sampson Alele Beals

Abstract

Abstract: Access to clean drinkable water and electricity is a fundamental requirement for the population of a nation. Knowing that accessibility is inevitably tied to financial capacity, this paper ventures to ascertain the effect of clean water and electricity accessibility on government capital spending in order to enhance their nexus. Secondary data were obtained from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, 2021, Statistical Bulletin- Public Finance and Real Sector; World Development Indicators of the World Bank Group, 2023. Using descriptive statistics to analyse trends and ordinary least squares (OLS) via the SPSS statistical package to analyze a ten year period data for relationship, it was revealed that the trend of access to clean water progressively rises over the years as against access to electricity that is erratic and undulating. Government capital spending trend is likewise ups and down over the years. There was no statistical significant relationship between access to clean waterelectricity and government capital spending. Government capital spending is thus, not influenced by accessibility to clean water and electricity. Recommendation was made to alert government on the need to align their capital allocations towards positive, significant impact on public utility accessibility thereby inducing positive demands in the populace towards higher accessibility to the public utilities of clean water and electricity.Key Words: Access to Clean Water, Access to Electricity, Government, Capital Spending, Nigeria.