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Corruption campaign lacks seriousness, says ACFE President

By Kingsley Jeremiah
13 July 2016   |   12:46 am
President Muhammadu Buhari-led campaign against corruption in Nigeria may not yield meaningful result until the effort becomes all-encompassing and handled with seriousness, President of Lagos state chapter, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners...

corruption

President Muhammadu Buhari-led campaign against corruption in Nigeria may not yield meaningful result until the effort becomes all-encompassing and handled with seriousness, President of Lagos state chapter, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, (ACFE) Godwin Oyedokun has said.

Oyedokun told The Guardian exclusively in Lagos that despite attempt to halt corruption in Nigeria, government has not tackled the challenges with sincerity.

According to him, the fight against corruption is commendable but it should be sustained, all-inclusive and should be supported by all Nigerians.“A situation where an anti graft agency is granting press statement of their resolve to arrest a “big fish” does not portray us to be serious in this country”, Oyedokun said.

He called for an urgent need to establish special courts for the trial of fraud cases for speedy clearance of fraud matters.Oyedokun, who said ACFE has been working across the world to reduce fraud and white-collar crime by providing adequate training that would help members in the area of fraud detection and deterrence, stated that the association would support if called upon either by public or private sector in the fight against fraud.

Considering current turbulence, Oyedokun urged corporations to put in place appropriate control mechanism and implementation plans so that they do not end up as ‘paper tiger’

“I recommend that all organisations should have anti-fraud unit with the mandating of conducting regular fraud health check and recommending appropriate measure in preventing, detecting and deterring fraudulent activities in the system.

“Organisations need to do more in order not to lose the little they have to fraudster”, he said.With upsurge in financial accounting fraud across the world, the fraud expert stated that poor handling of investigation of financial statement resulting from lack of needed knowledge and appropriate skills and unwillingness to act where the skills are available is costing organisations huge loss.

He said: “This is now changing with the increased knowledge and skills in forensic accounting, leading to the discovery of looted funds hitherto that would not have been discovered, including the recent leak of fund stanched away in countries that are tax heavens by government officials.”

Oyedokun also wants public and private firms to introduce appropriate sanctions for people who violate established controls, no matter their levels and position.

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