Forensic Accounting: A Tool for Fraud Detection and Prevention in the Public Sector. (A Study of Selected Ministries in Kogi State)

The contribution/importance of Professional Forensic Accountant cannot be over emphasized, whether to the public sector or to the private sector. The purpose of this study is to examine forensic accounting as a tool for fraud detection and prevention in the public sector organizations with particular reference to Kogi State. Both primary and secondary sources of data were appropriately used. 370 questionnaires were administered to staff of five (5) selected ministries in Kogi State of Nigeria, along with interviews conducted with those ministries out of which 350 were filled and returned. Tables and simple percentages were used to analyze the data. The statistical tool used to test hypotheses was Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA). Among the findings was that the use of Forensic Accounting do significantly reduces the occurrence of fraud cases in the public sector, and that there is significance difference between Professional Forensic Accountants and Traditional External Auditors and therefore the use of Forensic Accountants can help better in detecting and preventing fraud cases in the public sector organizations. The research therefore recommended that Forensic Accountants be replaced with the external auditors in Kogi State, proper training and retraining on Forensic accounting should be provided to staff of Kogi State and proper adherence to accounting and auditing standards should be followed.