Abstract:

Nigeria became independent in 1960 and this came with political and economic liberty. The goals of both were systematically related to improving and promoting the citizens’ welfare. However, since independence the political and economic situation in Nigeria has remained comatose. In a globalising world under perpetual influence of technological advancement, especially in driving economic activities, the place of e-governance in Nigeria’s political –economic growth deserves an assessment. How has an electronic governance approach positively impacted on both political and economic growth in Nigeria? This is one question the paper tries to provide an answer to and therefore its major objective is to examine the impact of e-governance on the political and economic growth in Nigeria. The paper explored secondary data sources, using qualitative research methods which are descriptively analysed and applied development theory for the purpose of making explanations. The theory is often regarded as a valuable change model for guiding technological innovation where the innovation itself is modified and presented in ways that meet the needs across all levels of adopters. The theory offers different explanations on the process of development and their inequalities. The findings of the study show that Nigeria has benefited from e-governance, which, to some extent has impacted the country’s economy growth in many ways. But despite the benefits there are some hindrances such as political instability that has bedeviled the country, also the outcome of this study shows that proper implementation of e-governance initiatives can improve the culture, lack of accountability, and transparency visible in Nigerian system. In addition, it will reduce the heavily paper based system to an electronic system which will reduces the need for manpower. Thus, this would allow the process to be handled by fewer employees and thus reduce operation cost. If the internet service is accessible to citizens irrespective of location throughout the country, it will bring the next and potentially biggest benefit of an e-governance service and this will have great impact on economic development. We concluded that there is under-exploration and utilization of electronic potential by the Nigerian Government in the management of her politics/economy for socio-economic growth and suggested that digital commercial transactions should be promoted and facilitated by policy makers and stakeholders to achieve the desired political/economic growth in Nigeria.

Keywords:

E-governance, Political growth, Economic growth, Nigerian economy, Diffusion of innovation theory.