‘Absence of appropriate legal framework to regulate cybercrime portends great danger’

THE Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIAN) has observed that absence of the appropriate legal framework for the regulation of forensic and investigative auditing practice in Nigeria portends great danger to the integrity and safety of the Nigerian financial system.

It said the first noticeable consequence of such a lacuna is that Nigeria currently spends hundreds of millions of her scarce foreign exchange to hire forensic experts to investigate corporate fraud.

Its Pro-tem President, Dr Enape Victoria Ayishetu made this known in a press briefing in Abuja with the theme: Application of Forensic and Investigative Audit Methodologies in Curbing Fraud and Corruption.

According to her, fraudsters have gone sophisticated and now engage digital technologies to perpetrate fraud, in this case, our system requires a forensic and investigative auditing knowledge on the use of science and technology for fraud prevention and detection.

“To this end, we need to shift emphasis to forensic and investigative auditing for the prevention of fraudulent activities, hence the need to have forensic and investigative auditing in Nigeria,” She added.

Ayishetu, who used the occasion to inaugurate three committees in complimenting and strengthening the role of government and corporate bodies in the fight against fraud and corruption in the country, said the committees would also work to put a stop to the menace of corruption and fraud in the country due to the billions of naira and dollars lost by the Nigerian government.

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“Nigerian government has lost billions of naira and dollars in the last few years to fraud until the government treasury became emptied and lest the citizens helpless. Cybercrime is the worst of it all. This situation is worrisome because it is like the more we complain, the worst Nigerian economy is becoming.

“We must all rise to our responsibilities as professionals in the country to ensure we do the needful urgently to savage the Nigerian economy from total collapse. It is only a madman that will continue doing the same thing the same way, same method and year after year and expect a different result. There is a need for a paradigm shift and that on urgent note,” she stated.

Dr Ayishetu said that the law became hopeless in the case of collapsed banks in Nigeria which were audited by some accountants firm because there was no Act empowering them to carry out fraud investigation, adding that where the work of traditional auditors’ stops is where that of forensic and investigative auditors work begins.

“We are fraud auditors, and our type of audit is different from that of accountants or traditional auditors. CIFIAN will ensure that relevant professionals are trained on fraud prevention by removing opportunity from the fraud triangle thereby making it difficult for manipulation of accounting facts and figures as it were,” She promised.

Meanwhile, the three committees are Journal of Forensic and Investigative Auditing chairs by Professor Wilson Herbert; while Professor Oladipupo Adesina heads Education and Research and Barrister Kwagh-Hangelorssase is in charge of Media and Publicity.