The Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIAN), has appealed to the House of Representatives to pass the CIFIAN Bill following its passage in the Senate on July 5.
Pro-tem President of CIFIAN, Dr. Victoria Ayishetu, made the appeal in Abuja, at a forum to highlight what the country stands to gain when the Bill is passed, and the core practice areas of members of the institute.
Ayishetu said the bill when passed by the House of Representatives, would give room for concurrence approval by both chambers of the National Assembly.
She said the bill would be useful to the country as it would provide skills to professionals from relevant field on how to make use of science and technology to detect, prevent and investigate fraud.
According to Ayishetu, the CIFIAN Bill is seriously needed now that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has intensified war on corruption.
“Nigerian government has lost billions of naira and dollars in the last few years to fraud; cyber-crime is the worst of it all.
“This situation is worrisome because it is like the more we complain the worst Nigerian economy becomes. We must all rise to our responsibilities as professionals in the country to ensure we do the needful urgently to salvage Nigerian economy from total collapse.
“It is only a mad man that will continue doing the same thing the same way, the same method, year after year, and expect different result; there is need for a paradigm shift,” Ayishetu said.
She urged Nigeria to emulate countries like the U.S., Canada as well as some countries in Europe and Asia that have made progress in fraud prevention and fight against “white collar crimes” after embracing forensic and investigative auditing method.
The CIFIAN pro-tem boss noted that the evolution of the institute was predicated as an instrumental professional paradigm shift in the systematic fight against fraud and corruption in the country.
She explained that CIFIAN was professionally distinct from other accounting bodies both in its mission and membership composition.
“CIFIAN is not another accounting body in Nigeria.
“It is an anti-fraud body saddled with the responsibility of providing skills to relevant professionals in the use of science and technology for prevention, detection and investigation of fraud.
“CIFIAN is to regulate the practice of forensic and Investigative Auditing in Nigeria as it is being practiced in other jurisdictions where similar anti-fraud organisations exist together with accounting bodies.
“Also of interest is that accounting bodies in the world are being regulated by International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), while forensic bodies like CIFIAN are being regulated by a different body called International Federation of Forensic Accountants and Auditors (IFFAA).
“With this, I am sure that Nigerians can agree with me that forensic and investigative auditing cannot be limited to just a faculty under any accounting body because it is very broad,” Ayishetu added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that three committees’ — Journal of Forensic and Investigative Auditing, Education and Research as well as Media and Publicity, were inaugurated to update members and the public on developments in forensic auditing.
Journal of Forensic and Investigative Auditing committee will be chaired by Prof. Wilson Herbert, while Prof. Oladipupo Adesina superintends the Education and Research committee.
Barrister Kwagh Hangelorssase heads the Media committee.
NAN
