The Pro-tem President, Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria, CIFIAN, Dr Victoria Enape, on Friday disclosed that the volume of fraud in Nigerian banks rose dramatically to about N25 billion in the past five years.
Enape, who spoke in Abuja at the opening of intensive training for forensic and investigative auditors, noted that fraud and corruption weaken the institutional abilities of governments and organisations as well as impede trade and investment.
She also pointed out that collapse of institutions, loss of employment, investment and investors, loss of earnings and means of livelihood as well as financial losses were some of the resultant social upheavals and risks of corruption and fraud.
Addressing the theme “The Use of Forensic and Investigative Auditing for Prevention of Fraud, Corruption and Cyber-crimes in Nigeria,” the CIFIAN Pro-tem President noted that the training had become necessary for the country to catch up with global trends in the fight against corruption.
She posited that Nigeria must embrace forensic and investigative auditing for the future generation to experience peace and economic development.
She said: “Government at all levels are losing billions of Naira every day and most of these criminal cases bordering on fraud, corruption and cyber-crimes are partly because there are no forensic and investigative auditors in Nigeria to prevent fraud from taking place.
“The place of training of forensic and investigative auditors cannot be overemphasised because the whole world has embraced this current trend years ago which has assisted them in the fight against fraud.
“Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors is an anti-fraud organisation, saddled with the responsibility of providing skills to relevant professionals on the use of science and technology to prevent, detect and investigate fraud of all kinds.
READ ALSO: Afreximbank Names another Nigerian Head of IT
“The Institute also has mechanism to block illicit financial flows in the country; it therefore becomes indispensable in Nigeria if Nigerians and the future generation must experience peace and economic development.”
Enape harped on the need for the House of Representatives to pass without further delay, the Institute’s Bill to give concurrency after Senate passed the Bill on July 5, 2018.
In his own contributions, the Registrar of the Institute, Mr Valentine Ugwu, lent his voice to the passage of the institute’s Bill saying that when passed, it would also assist government during elections.
His words: “Forensic auditing can also be used to tackle and prevent electoral fraud. And President Buhari is the only Nigerian leader that has openly tackled corrupt persons since the existence of the country.
“We intend to help President Buhari in the fight against corruption by validating and enhancing members’ standing as forensic and investigative auditors with a credible, comprehensive and internationally recognised certification.”
