This report examines the Federal Government spending in the three (3) main social sectors of the Nigerian economy – Education, Health and Water, in five (5) distinctive categories over a period of four (4) years. Rather than reviewing the budget for these three sectors in the format in which they are presented in the federal Governments budget, the report arranged the data according to major programs (following program budgeting approach). It analyzes the Federal Governments budget appropriation and implementation, revealing the performance of government expenditure in these sectors. The report also compares the federal government spending in terms of recurrent versus capital expenditures; wage versus non-wage expenditures and donor versus domestic expenditures.

This analysis shows that the Nigerian government apportioned more funds to the education sector and least to the water sector between the years 2006 to 2010 with the total sums of N1,125 billion and N224 billion (in 2006 prices), respectively. Compared with other countries, spending on education, health and water in percent of GDP is still low; social indicators are poor and the allocation within sectors is not consistent with national priorities MDGs and vision 20:2020.