The Political Economy of Infrastructure Investment Decisions and Quantity Surveying Practice in Nigeria

Infrastructure investment decisions in Nigeria are deeply shaped by political economy dynamics that distort rational cost-benefit evaluation and impose significant costs on public finance. This study examines the political economy of infrastructure investment decisions and its implications for quantity surveying practice in Nigeria, using a critical political economy theoretical framework. A qualitative, interpretivist design employing 65 elite interviews with politicians, permanent secretaries, quantity surveyors, civil society actors, and international lenders, complemented by critical analysis of 30 infrastructure project decision trails, was adopted. Critical discourse analysis and process tracing provided the analytical tools. Findings reveal systematic patterns of project selection bias toward politically visible, electorally timed interventions with inflated cost estimates that create rent extraction opportunities, at the expense of maintenance-intensive but less visible infrastructure. Quantity surveyors are found to be frequently co-opted into cost inflation through specification padding and over-estimation, or marginalised when their professional judgements threaten political project calculus. The study documents how political economy pressures distort the entire quantity surveying service chain from feasibility through to final account. An original Political Economy Resilience Model for quantity surveyors is developed, identifying institutional, professional, and individual strategies for maintaining professional integrity under political pressure. This research makes an original critical contribution to the sociology of the quantity surveying profession in Nigeria. Keywords: political economy, infrastructure investment, quantity surveying, Nigeria, professional integrity