Effects of an Internal Control of Financial Accountability in the Nigerian Public Sector

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Controlling, grade: 3'81, , language: English, abstract: This study examines the effect of internal controls on financial accountability in the public sector. The study adopts a survey design method with a population of sixty respondents consisting of staff of the Accountant General Office in Benue state, Nigeria using questionnaire in generating primary data from respondents. The statistical tool used for testing the hypotheses is the Chi-square statistics. The findings revealed that internal controls instituted in public sector are in compliance with COSO integrated framework which is used in detecting errors and fraud. The study also revealed that internal controls have significant role in the management of financial resources allocated to public sector and that management staff in public sector interfere with the effective administration of internal control procedures. In line with these findings, we recommend that the internal control in Nigerian Public sector be constantly reviewed by management so as to be in line with national and international best practices in order to reduce irregularities, inaccuracies, fraud and errors; All employees and those in charge of managing financial resources should constantly be schooled – workshops, seminars, as well as in-service trainings so as to enable them to be conversant with matters relating to internal controls; Management staff interfering with the internal control should be sanctioned accordingly to serve as a deterrent to others to desist from such acts; and finally, auditors should be encouraged to expose wrong doings and apply the rules as and at when the situation demands.