Today there has been a considerable increase in the variety and range of services that state governments in the country are expected to provide in their area. Government at the state level undoubtedly is expected to provide all the necessary social and infrastructural facilities needed by her citizenries at affordable or no cost. But contrary to this, are recorded infrastructural decays, diversion of funds, projects abandonment, wasteful spending, and low standard of living and so on. For a government to thrive and discharge its responsibilities there is the need for proper planning. Planning in the context of public sector begins with budgeting. It is observed that the issue of budgeting has not been taken seriously in Ondo state However, despite the fact that the government prepared budget annually, the government sees it as an annual event and administrative routine exercise and never show recourse to it. The issue in this paper therefore is to look into the causes and implications of poor performance of budget in ondo state. The research was a case study and data were sourced from government workers using a questionnaire. A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed and 119 retrieved. Data obtain were analysed using descriptive and empirical analyses. The descriptive analysis employs the use of tables, percentages and charts to describe the characteristics of the responses in the questionnaires. The empirical analysis employs the use of multiple regressions of the ordinary least square and covariance and correlation analyses. The results of the analyses show that factors such as poor planning, fraudulent manipulation, lack of adequate professional knowledge, delay in passage of budget, late release of fund are all responsible for poor budget performance in the state. The implication is that it discourages investors due to poor condition of the state infrastructures, it reduces the standard of living of the people of the state, and it slows down economic development through wasteful spending, extra budgetary spending and debt accumulation.
Keywords: Budget Performance, Extra Budgetary Spending, Governance, Wasteful Spending
