Fiscal Administration Rules and Financial Efficiency in Public Universities in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the influence of fiscal administration rules on financial efficiency in public universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Ex-post-facto design was adopted for this study. This study was delimited to public universities in Cross River State of Nigeria. The population of the study was 138 staff in the bursary departments in public universities in Cross River State of Nigeria. Census approach was used to sample the 138 respondents. The instrument for the study was Fiscal Administration Rule and Financial Efficiency Questionnaire (FARFEQ). The instrument after being developed by the researcher, was presented to the two experts in the departments of Public Administration of University of Calabar for face and content validation. The instrument was further administered on 30 respondents that formed an equivalent population to the study population in public universities in Akwa Ibom State and Cronbach Alpha Reliability Estimates was used to determine the reliability coefficient which ranged from .81 to .84, establishing that the instrument was reliable. Simple linear regression was used for testing the null hypothesis at .05 level of significance. The results showed that budgeting and auditing significantly influence financial efficiency in public universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the management of public universities in Cross River State should adopt a participative budgeting approach, involving all stakeholders, including faculty members, staff, and students, in the budgeting process to ensure that the budget is realistic, achievable, and aligned with the university's goals and objectives.