Forensic, Investigative auditors task reps on CIFIA Bill

Dr Victoria Enape, Pro-tem President, Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors (CIFIAN) has appealed to the House of Representatives to give concurrence to the CIFIAN Bill.

Enape made this appeal at the Induction of New Members of CIFIAN in Abuja.

The CIFIAN Bill has since been passed by the Senate.

She said that the absence of appropriate legal framework for the regulation of forensic and investigative auditing practice in Nigeria posed great danger to the integrity and safety of the Nigerian financial system.

According to her, the first noticeable consequence of such a lacuna is that Nigeria currently spends hundreds of millions of her scarce foreign exchange to hire forensic experts to investigate corporate fraud.

“Establishing CIFIAN will not amount to the balkanization of accounting profession in Nigeria in any way, because CIFIAN is not another accounting body in Nigeria like ICAN and ANAN.

“CIFIAN 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 and also to put mechanisms to prevent future occurrence and illicit financial flows in the country.

“Forensic and investigative auditing is an emerging trend and the whole world knew nothing about forensics in the 70s, let alone 1965 when some of the Accounting bodies in Nigeria were established.

“Therefore any claim by any existing accounting body in Nigeria on forensic and investigative auditing is baseless, illegal and should be disregarded by the public, the House of Representatives and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“To avoid quack practice in forensic investigations in the future, we hereby call on the House of Representatives to disregard the antics of our distracters and give possible concurrence to CIFIAN as it was done by the Nigerian Senate and posterity will remember you,’’ she said.