‘Modern technological revolution impeding anti-graft war’

The Federal Government has expressed worry that fraudsters are taking advantage of the 21st century technological revolution to perpetrate corrupt practice in the ministries departments and agencies.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha stated this yesterday in Abuja at the second annual conference and induction of new members of the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors (CIFIA) of Nigeria.He lamented the new ease of financial crimes has made fraud cases difficult to detect by the police, investigators and auditors unskilled in forensic and investigative auditing, therefore posing a major challenge to Nigeria’s war against corruption.

Mustapha pointed out that on the global scene, forensic and investigative auditing were introduced following realization that fraudsters had gone sophisticated and had taken advantage of the 21st digital revolution to perpetrate fraud that are undetectable by auditing.

According to him, introduction of forensic and investigative auditing is more reliable approach to preventing and detecting financial fraud. Mustapha, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the SGF office, Dr. Amina Chamaki, said CIFIA Bill by the Senate should be seen as an attempt to provide the legal framework for the professional development and discipline of forensic and investigative experts who will in turn be obligated to contribute to the war against corruption.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami stressed the need for sustained synergy between relevant government MDAs and professional bodies like CIFIAN towards enhancing the capacity of financial crime prosecutors and generally engendering reforms in the nation’s existing anti-fraud mechanisms.

He pointed out that forensic and investigative auditing being aggressively promoted by CIFIAN in Nigeria has been recognized globally as an effective approach to fraud prevention and for gathering the needed prosecutorial evidence in financial crimes.

Malami said the Buhari administration was of the view that those who corruptly enrich themselves with public funds should not only be denied the benefits of the proceeds of their corrupt practices but should be tried in court and where found guilty they should be jailed to serve as deterrence to others. Malami advised that the CIFIAN Bill should be treated on its merits if eventually transmitted to the president for assent.