ABSTRACT
In recent years the importance of good corporate governance has received significant public and regulatory attention. A crucial part of an entity’s corporate governance is its internal audit function. At the same time, there has been significant public concern about the level of fraud within organizations. The purpose of this study is to assess whether organizations with an internal audit function are more likely to detect fraud than those without. the technique to be employed in testing the hypotheses is the chi-square (X2) distribution, data analysis is done with technical precision so as to avoid erroneous inferences which could affect the objective of the study. The main objective is to determine the views of the respondents on the questions contained in the questionnaires
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Financial audits may be performed for Government sectors, registered charities, some governmental and public entities certain forms of Government sectors are required to have an external audit. Government sectors typically request financial audits year after year because lenders may have required an audit or owned may want to have external unbiased eyes look at the financial statements to determine if the company is complying with all the required accounting principles charities would require a financial audit to show the financial status of the organization to potential donors. Private businesses are required to be audited by status to determine if all the money budgeted has been properly spent. Government financial reports are not always audited by outside auditor, but Government sectors are. It is the duty of the auditor to examine the financial statement and consequently form an opinion of their fairness in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. As a secondary function, it is also his duty to uncover any act of omission, which in view is fraudulent in nature. It is alarming to state here that private liability companies have become a target of the fraudsters who take advantage of the irregularities and professionalism of the Government sectors to perpetrate their nefarious deeds. There is a long list of Government sectors with publicized fraud cases in various degrees which are hundreds of millions, they include uni-petrol and Agip Company now known as Oando Company, Total company Swallowed ELF, Oceanic bank and intercontinental bank e.t.c.
