Political Economy of Technical and Vocational Education Funding in Nigeria: A Multi-Level Governance Analysis

This study examined the political economy of technical and vocational education (TVE) funding in Nigeria through a multi-level governance analytical lens, investigating how political interests, fiscal federalism structures, and institutional incentives shape TVE budget decisions across federal, state, and local government levels. TVE persistently receives inadequate funding despite its policy salience, yet the political and economic mechanisms that produce this underfunding have not been rigorously theorized within the Nigerian context. The study employed a qualitative political economy methodology, integrating documentary analysis of budget data from 2018 to 2024, 60 elite interviews with federal and state legislators, finance officials, and education policymakers across North East, South West, and South South Nigeria, and critical frame analysis of TVE policy documents. Drawing on public choice theory and multi-level governance theory, the study identifies four structural mechanisms of TVE underfunding: electoral incentive misalignment, fiscal transfer design flaws, bureaucratic capture by university lobby groups, and weak civil society accountability. The proposed Reformist TVE Governance Framework outlines institutional redesign recommendations for each level. The study makes an original theoretical contribution by applying political economy theory to TVE policy analysis in a federal African state, extending existing governance scholarship beyond its predominant OECD country focus. Keywords: political economy, TVE funding, Nigeria, multi-level governance, fiscal federalism.