Forensic institute urges FG to plug financial wastages

Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) has called on the Federal Government to block financial wastages associated with lack of Performance Forensics Audit (PFA), noting that about 15 per cent of Federal Government’s total budget is wasted yearly due to the absence of a robust forensic auditing process.

President of CIFCFIN, Dr Iliyasu Gashinbaki, who stated this during the institute’s Fifth Direct Membership Graduation and Award of Fellowship Ceremony in Abuja, advised the Federal Government to quickly adopt a policy of Continuous Performance Forensics Audit Review if it must achieve its Economic Agenda of $1 trillion GDP projection by 2026.

He noted that the Performance Forensic Audit Review is very imperative for Nigeria in order to help curtail and ultimately eliminate financial wastages by the federal, state and local governments.

According to him, the forensic audit will involve a comprehensive examination of functions, processes and systems within government that includes value for money, public procurement and a review of system performances.

He expressed confidence in the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that the President would improve Federal Government’s audit system, considering the seriousness he has shown so far with his economic reform agenda.

Gashinbaki commended Tinubu for setting clear deliverables and for introducing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor the performance of all ministers and their ministries and advised him to also expand and extend the same approach to monitor the Directors General/CEOs of all government departments and agencies as that, according to him, would further enhance accountability and foster performance in the public sector.

He cautioned against a situation where a government organization, such as the NNPC, operated for 43 years without having its financial accounts audited, noting that such could not have happened if an effective Performance Forensic Audit was in place.