Forensic Accounting Techniques and Attainment of Results in Federal Government Parastatals in Nigeria

Abstract

Economic and financial fraud instances have risen over the past few years. However, fraud is a dynamic phenomenon, and new ways to defraud people, businesses, even government and the environment as a whole, appear every day. Adopting significant accounting techniques and fraud detection measures that are capable of identifying and preventing any type of fraud, regardless of how complex, is therefore imperative. The forensic accounting technique is one of these methods. This is one of the types of techniques that is primarily responsible for the investigation of fraud and is created primarily in the field of public and private finances. This study therefore examines the effect of forensic accounting techniques on attainment of results in Federal Government parastatals in Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study was 5 federal government agencies. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 2 agencies. The target population of the study was 131 accountants in the two agencies chosen- Nigeria Port Authority and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. Total enumeration was adopted. A validated and structured questionnaire was used to administer 131 copies of the questionnaire to the respondents. 126 copies were retrieved which represented 96% response rate. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients ranged from 0.740 – 0.892. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (multiple regression) statistics at 5% level of significant. The result found that forensic accounting techniques had significant effect on output maximization in public sector of Nigeria (Adj. R2 = 0.183; F(6, 125)= 7.995, p < 0.05). The study concluded that forensic accounting techniques had a significant positive effect on attainment of result (effectiveness). The study recommended that government should adopt forensic accounting investigation techniques in corruption investigation significantly achieve attainment of results in government parastatals.