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Tag: Forensic

  • Forensic institute canvasses performance audit for energy sector

    Forensic institute canvasses performance audit for energy sector

    The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), has said that for Nigeria to experience sustainable power supply, the energy sector needs a comprehensive forensic performance audit. The proposed audit would cut across financial management, operational performance, resource allocation, infrastructure management, asset integrity and value for money.

    Speaking at the 11th Direct membership training/graduation ceremony and awards of Fellowship as well as the 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Institute in Abuja last Friday, CIFCFIN’s

    President and Chairman Governing Council, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, said the institute is willing to deploy its array of forensic experts to offer free technical assistance to the federal government

    to conduct the audit.

    Read Also: Insecurity: Sokoto steps up mechanisms against banditry, other crimes for peace, stability

    He said Nigeria’s economic prospects are tightly tied to its ability to generate, transmit,

    distribute, and manage energy efficiently. “Yet, as we speak, the sector’s performance remains

    one of the most glaring obstacles to economic growth, industrialization and also one of the major problems that undermines the vision of the $1 trillion economy of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.”

    Gashinbaki recalled that before the privatization of the sector in 2013, under a single national power authority, Nigeria generated 3,800 megawatts. “However, despite the successful

    privatization of the power sector into about 25 different companies/entities, they have only

    produced 5,400 megawatts, increasing generation by only 1,600 megawatts in 12 years. Besides, the national grid has collapsed 105 times within the last 10 years, plunging homes, hospitals, and

    factories into darkness. Furthermore, in 2024 alone, manufacturers spent the humongous sum of N238.3bn on alternative power!”

    Stating that the current model of management and oversight in the energy sector is not yielding

    the result that Nigerians desperately need, he declared that a forensic performance audit of the

    sector audit of the energy sector has become not only necessary but urgent.

    In his good will message, the former Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission

    (SEC), Dr. Suleyman Ndanusa said the forensic performance audit canvassed by CIFCFIN is a

    step in the right direction. “At the end of the audit, the result of the audit will now provide a

    pathfinder of how to bring about resolutions to all the issues,” he stated. Also speaking, the Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulieman commended the institute for setting the bar for forensic practice in Nigeria which would go a long way in preventing fraud and sharp practices “that have been constraining

    the private and public sector from operating at their best.”

    CIFCFIN’s 11th Direct Membership Training/graduation and awards of Fellowship which took

    place at NILDS had 130 participants – 130 Certified Members and 60 Fellows.

  • Lagos opens first DNA forensic lab

    •Offers free legal service for Int’l Day of Peace

    Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, has said the Lagos State Government has completed the construction of the first ever high-powered DNA Forensic Laboratory in Nigeria.

    Kazeem spoke at the weekend in Ikeja at the kick-off of activities to mark the 2017 United Nations (UN) International Day of Peace.

    Last year, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode approved the construction of the laboratory as part of the criminal justice sector reforms designed to solve crime through technology.

    The state government also intended to fulfil an unmet need for DNA profiling which is a unique forensic technique used all over the world.

    Kazeem said skeletal work had already commenced in the lab known as the Lagos State DNA Forensics Centre (LSDFC), and that it would be formally commissioned in the coming weeks.

    Kazeem, who was represented at the briefing by the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Funlola Odunlami, explained that the lab was part of efforts geared toward enhancing peace in the state.

    “The DNA forensic centre just opened this month. We are yet to commission it but it has been opened and it is a DNA crime forensic lab and at the same time, it is going to deal with other DNA matters like paternity issue. What we are doing now is skeletal work which we started this month,” Kazeem said.

    He recalled that since 2007, the state, through the Citizens’ Mediation Centre (CMC), an agency under the Ministry of Justice, had collaborated with the United Nations Information Office to mark the International Day of Peace.

    Kazeem said: “The importance which the state government attaches to peaceful conduct of businesses, hospitality, tourism among others informed the establishment of agencies that will attend to matters relating to land grabbers, Special Task Force, donation of police vehicles for security, introduction of DNA forensic laboratory to archive blood samples of criminals, among other laudable initiatives.”

    He revealed that the Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) will provide free legal services and mediation today and tomorrow to celebrate the International Day of Peace which is marked worldwide every September 21.

    The free legal advice and mediation would be rendered to residents of the Ikorodu Road axis and Ibeju-Lekki.

    This year’s event tagged “Together for peace: Respect, safety and dignity for all,” will be rounded off on September 21, with the 18th Stakeholders’ Conference and Book Launch at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium in Alausa.

    CMC Director, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Odusanya, said the centre has been adopting a consultative approach in resolving all the issues brought before it such that all parties involved feel satisfied with the resolution of the centre.

  • Forensic Medicine: Questionable injuries are not acts of God (1)

    Africa and indeed Nigeria are blessed with abundant human and material resources: that is a fact. That we are underachieving and underdeveloped is a settled matter and I will not be discussing that point here. What is most concerning is the magnitude of abuse of humans and other resources that we have been blessed with to improve our lives. We the residents of this frontier called Nigeria (and Africa) are the principal perpetrators of such abuses against our fellow human beings and it has been on-going for millennia.

    A couple of weeks ago, we discussed abuse in its various forms. I pointed out then that abuse can result into physical, psychological, financial injuries or death of the victims.  Abuse is not the only cause of deaths as we all know. Deaths can result from accidents, very often as a result of one person’s negligence or the other. There is no doubt that deaths of anyone—young or old—very frequently results from natural causes such as definite disease states such as cancer.

    In the elderly, death may come due to old age.  Death may therefore not be due to natural causes. Death that is questionable may be as a consequence of a deliberate act of harm (abuse) such as beating a person to death, poisoning, burning or deprivation of necessaries. Death may also result from negligence (act of not paying due care and attention to what one is doing or  a person is not carrying out his/her duty to the standard expected of that individual and position that the person occupies).

    Now, it’s the subject of such questionable deaths and injuries that we shall explore in this article. In medical professional circle and in law, the medico-legal examination of such questionable deaths is carried out by a Coroner.

    Coroner cases are integral part of forensic medicine. It’s a very important aspect of every decent society to question and find the root causes of what caused the death or injury of a member of the society that we all belong to.

    We will examine the nature of forensic medicine and how it applies to you and the society that we live in. We will also take a look at how you and your family can benefit from forensic medical work. In addition, we will examine the reasons why forensic examination is almost a taboo or why the practice of forensic medicine suffers from a high resistance in Nigeria. First, the scope of forensic medicine and the law.

    Let us deal with the word: “Coroner”: The history of coroner and indeed the name “coroner” (from Crown) came from the English in the 11th Century England. The principal reason for establishing coroner is simply to protect the interest of the Crown in Criminal Proceedings. The coroner was formally established in England by Article 20 of the “Articles of Eyre” in September 1194 to “keep the pleas of the Crown”) from which the word “coroner” is derived. In those days, it was the duty (as its now) of the local county official to defend and protect the interest of the Crown in courts. By the year 1215 when the Magna Carta (that brought much human rights to the world as we now know it) came into being, the word “coroner” had been enshrined in law.

    Ultimately, it became established that “the person who found a body from a death thought sudden or unnatural was required to raise the “hue and cry” and to notify the coroner” and hence the modern function and meaning of a coroner . Therefore, coroner is a person whose standard role is to confirm and certify the death of an individual within a jurisdiction (say in Lagos State or Nigeria).

    With this in mind, we can now look at what is “forensic medicine”.  “The application of medical knowledge to the investigation of crime, particularly in establishing the causes of injury or death is called forensic medicine.

    The meeting point of Forensic Medicine and Coroner:  Coroner and forensic medicine indeed have a meeting point at what is called autopsy:  which means examination of the dead to find the cause of death.  To use the words of Encyclopedia Britannica, the primary tool of forensic medicine has always been the autopsy.

    Frequently used for identification of the dead, autopsies may also be conducted to determine the cause of death. In cases of death caused by a weapon, for example, the forensic pathologist ( a medical doctor)—by examining the wound—can often provide detailed information about the type of weapon used as well as important contextual information. (In a death by gunshot, for example, he can determine with reasonable accuracy the range and angle of fire.)

    Forensic medicine is a major factor in the identification of victims of disaster, such as landslide or plane crash. In cause-of-death determinations, forensic pathologists can also significantly affect the outcome of trials dealing with insurance and inheritance.

    Therefore, a common but extremely powerful tool that exposes criminality is autopsy which in the hand of a coroner can bring justice to victims even if dead. Forensic medicine as a whole can bring justice and restitution to the living injured.

    Next week, we shall examine coroner in more details.

  • DNA forensic lab ready in 15 months,

    The DNA Forensic Laboratory being built by the Lagos State Government will be ready in 15 months, Science and Technology Commissioner Mr Olufemi Odubiyi said yesterday.

    Speaking at the ministerial briefing to mark the first anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, he said the government was working with the Ministry of Justice on the laboratory.

    The laboratory, he said, would be at CMS on Lagos Island.

    Odubiyi said his ministry was partnering with law enforcement agencies to secure the state, adding that the Federal Government has installed and handed over 1,000 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to the state.

    According to him, the state will also install 12,000 CCTVs to bring the total number of cameras to 13,000.

    The enabling infrastructure for the CCTV scheme, he said, was being put in place with the ministry’s Smart City Project.

    “Enabling infrastructure to guarantee success of the CCTV cameras is critical, and this is where the Smart City Project will help. The project will also provide broadband deployment of fibres across the state,’’ he said.

    On the Ikeja computer village, Odubiyi said the planned relocation of the village was ongoing in collaboration with other ministries.

    He said the government was also planning entrepreneurship training for some of the computer village technologists as was done in the past.

    The commissioner said his ministry was also reviewing its Science and Technology Policy in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

  • PwC forensic audit reports and the NNPC

    PwC forensic audit reports and the NNPC

    Finally, the Pricewater-houseCoopers Forensic Audit Report draws the curtain on the 15-month drama in which the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was docked in the court of public opinion. The allegations that NNPC was not faithful to its fiduciary responsibility to the federal government and the people of Nigeria began like a child’s play. Initial steps taken to douse the issue, including the inter-agency reconciliation committee led by the Ministry of Finance, failed to get Nigerians to give NNPC a clean bill of health.

    From exchanges back and forth, during the long drawn drama, it was clear that Nigerians were angry with NNPC. Some, in bitter postulations, imagined that the corporation was a haughty, profit-minded, slave-driving multinational. However, nothing would obliterate the fact that the giant National Oil Company is 100% a Nigerian baby established and managed by Nigerians for Nigeria.

    But it bears observing that the corporation over the years had treated mildly or even whitewashed similar allegations. Perhaps unconsciously, it assumed that simply adhering strictly to its enabling legislation and internationally acceptable corporate governance standards and ethics, it owed no duty to the man on the street. For those who held this opinion, the allegation of unremitted $49.8bn became an opportunity to deflate the mighty NNPC: It was not important whether the allegation was fabricated or not, making it stick would make the corporation look bad, and lose face. Sad.

    Maybe the furore and near-panic in government circles that greeted the allegation of missing $49.8bn crude revenue could be attributed to the personality of the person who made the allegation, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now the Emir of Kano).

    Sanusi, who was present at the hearing, expressed satisfaction with the findings of the committee.

    It was at that hearing that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala averred that the committee had no technical competence to verify the claims of $2.1bn for pipeline repairs and maintenance, and strategic reserves and suggested that forensic auditors be engaged to examine the expenditure as claimed by the NNPC.

    However, like one launching an ambush, stepping out of the Senate Chambers, Sanusi in a prepared press statement stated that $20 billion was the new amount yet to be remitted to the Federation Account by NNPC and not the $12 billion he had earlier alleged or the $10.8 billion given by the Inter-Agency Committee.

    The report asserted that the entire revenue accruable to the Federation Account during the period under investigation was $50.81 billion and not $48.9 billion as alleged by Sanusi. The amount has been fully accounted for and clearly categorised under the various components of the accruable revenue.

    The PwC report did also raise the issue of ‘outstanding $1.48 bn’ being ‘signature bonus due for divested assets and taxes/royalties’ which it recommended should be remitted by NNPC to the Federation Account. Was that not an indictment on NNPC? The NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Joseph T. Dawha, in his explanation described the $1.48bn as comprising signature bonus, taxes and royalties on the oil wells divested by Shell, which NNPC acquired and transferred to its upstream subsidiary, the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company, NPDC. Signature bonus, according to Dr Dawha, represents the book value of the assets and was estimated at $1.847bn by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

    However, NNPC raised issues with the parameters used in calculating the signature bonus since the assets involved were old wells. NNPC had paid $300 million pending when both parties would come to terms on a mutually acceptable estimate of the book value of the assets. The NNPC boss submits therefore that the $1.48bn was not part of the alleged unremitted revenue from crude oil sales or missing oil revenue. And going by the explanation, the $1.48bn is not an amount willingly withheld by NNPC but rather an amount which was in dispute by two sister agencies and so the recommendation of the PwC forensic audit report can be seen as a resolution of the dispute. It is therefore erroneous for anyone to see it as an indictment of the NNPC in anyway.

    Beyond the hoopla and hysteria, were there any lessons gained from the Sanusi allegations? Several! A significant lesson is that openness and transparency should be the rule of the thumb in the transactions of a public enterprise like the NNPC.

    Secondly, the public deserves to know how its oil wealth is being managed. As a matter of fact, one assumes that the NNPC has learnt the vital lesson that explanation of issues regarding its transactions does not have to be just once and that it owes it a duty to the Nigerian public to explain as many times as necessary till the people understand and assimilate the issues.

    All said and done, the legislature and executive must be proactive in terms of putting in place legislations, institutions and processes that make for robust inter-agency interactions to eliminate the kind of misunderstanding that led to the allegation in the first place. If such proactive measures had been in place, the pains and costs of the past fifteen months could have been avoided.

    – Akaniyene is a Port-Harcourt-based financial services consultant. He can be reached at ibakaniyene@aol.com.

  • NNPC’s forensic audit

    •FG should publish the report in full if it has nothing to hide

    For a corporation long known to be inured to shame and probity, it comes as no surprise that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would mount an orgy of self-exculpation barely hours after the Auditor- General of the Federation, (AuGF), Samuel Ukura, made public the highlights of the PriceWaterHouse Coopers (PwC) forensic audit report on the alleged missing $20 billion. Not even a key highlight of the PwC report asking NNPC and its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to refund “a minimum of $1.48bn,” to the Federation Account, it seems, could suffice to temper the corporation’s mission in self-justification and image laundering.

    By the way, were the NNPC to be any guilty of the aforementioned, the Jonathan administration would be just as complicit for allowing the corporation to go public with the cherry-pick even as Nigerians are denied the opportunity of seeing the entire document.

    To be sure, the PwC can claim to have delivered on its mission of investigating the shortfall in remittances to the Federation Account as alleged by the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. What remains at issue is whether the process – from duration to the point of submission – has resolved the riddle of the missing $20 billion.

    We have no difficulties in stating the obvious – which is that the entire process is, as would be expected in the circumstance, highly disappointing. To start with, it is worth noting that the report is actually coming four months late. Given that the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had stated in April last year that the firm had 16 weeks to do the job, the report ought to have been submitted last September. Without the relentless pressure mounted by various segments of the Nigerian society, it seems unlikely that the report which the administration is now so eager to claim some credit for would have seen the light of the day. That the administration finally caved in would owe in part to the fact that the general elections are only a few weeks from now; and the nigh impossibility of being able to fob off questions about the scandal.

    Of greater interest to us however is what President Goodluck Jonathan has chosen to do after receiving the report. Ordinarily, given the intense public interest generated in the wake of the allegations, we would have expected the administration (ever so eager to prove that it had nothing to hide) would cause the findings to be published to enable citizens – at whose behest the investigation was undertaken – draw their own conclusions. Rather, the President opted to hand the report to the AuGF with a directive to the latter to publish its highlights.

    The point really is that things have gone beyond the attempt to cherry-pick the report. Asking the AuGF to do what is no more than an executive summary, aside being opportunistic, is hardly helpful to the cause of establishing the truth. Moreover, audit reports are by their nature public documents. Why the Jonathan administration would choose to treat it as a matter covered by the Official Secrets Act is hard to comprehend; just as the notion that Nigerians cannot comprehend let alone draw their independent conclusion is absurd.

    As for the order by Minister of Petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke to the NNPC to pay the outstanding $1.48 billion due to the Federation Account, we consider it superfluous and utterly condescending. Clearly, the magisterial directive merely confirms what is today known as the farce going on at the petroleum ministry where the minister doubles as sole administrator. Until the nation is availed the entire PwC report, we would expect the NNPC and the petroleum ministry to spare Nigerians the distractions.

  • ‘Forensic science helps in solving high profile murder cases’

    ‘Forensic science helps in solving high profile murder cases’

    An Ibadan lawyer, Mr. Kunle Alade has stressed the importance of forensic science in resolving high profile murder cases in Nigeria. OSEHEYE OKWUOFU reports that Alade said the one forensic laboratory is inadequate for the country and advocates for more of the facility than the one established by the Nigeria Police Force. Excerpts:

    Why are you miffed that there is only one forensic laboratory in the country?

    I have always wondered how Nigeria survived the past 54 years prosecuting criminal cases without applying forensic science as a tool in handling criminal cases. There is an area I have always been interested in. While growing up, I had always been fascinated about an idea of finger print being extracted from an item and translated into data that can be used to compare with other people’s finger prints to see if there is a match. This is something I have always been interested in.

    I believe that I have started on the right part which is setting up a Centre for Forensic Criminology and Legal Research. Let’s see where the centre takes us to and then we will take it from there.

    Forensic as a science is a veritable tool in resolving criminal cases. We can talk about different aspects of it. There are the DNA profiling and finger print extraction. There are so many areas of forensic science that I believe government can take interest in and turn it round.

    Is it very necessary for the country to develop forensic science to resolve criminal cases?

    Good legislations can help the country to have a framework for forensic criminology to thrive. It’s worrisome that in Nigeria, we have none of such. It will be fine if our lawmakers could sit up and evolve legislation as regards forensic criminology as a veritable tool for solving criminal cases in Nigeria. It will be good for us to have that kind of framework to work and build on so that this area can thrive and help us resolve most of the unresolved murders and criminal cases generally.

    What are the major components of criminal justice and forensic science? How will these two complement each other in tackling criminal matters?

    In today’s criminal justice system, the traditional methods of proof, eyewitness’ account and confessions have become unpredictable. Criminal trials last for what seems like eternity, while the criminals are becoming cleverer and more scientific.

    It has become pertinent that law enforcement agents; lawyers and the judiciary learn to rely on more authentic and concrete methods of proofs in order to solve criminal cases. This approach has to be reliable, objective and not prone to easy manipulation.

    This solution is provided by science because by nature, scientific evidence is more or less exact, far more reliable and does not turn hostile under threats. Science is based on clues and materials which are always dependable.

    What are the benefits of investing in forensic science in a developing country such as Nigeria?

    The benefits of employing forensic science as a crime-solving tool are immense. The police, courts and juries, the world over, are also increasingly demanding more objective scientific evidence.

    In Nigeria, it appears that we have not turned our minds to the benefits and potential of Forensic Science. Our Police Force, the Bar and Bench have been far less successful in developing an enabling environment for Forensic Science to thrive in Nigeria.

    Consequently, we often see criminal trials conducted from inception to conclusion without applying thorough scientific analysis. The establishment of the first forensic laboratory at the force CID in Lagos is commendable. However, their presence and expertise is urgently needed all over Nigeria. This has to be replicated in all the other 35 states of the country.

    Is it not grave to assert that Nigeria has not shown enough interest in developing forensic science to aid in solving criminal cases?

    There is an evident lacuna that exists in the Nigerian criminal justice system as it pertains to the use of scientific cum forensic applications. The Evidence Act, Penal Code and the Criminal Code make no provision for forensic-based analogy in criminal or general law in Nigeria.

    Despite the worldwide pre-eminence of this field, Nigeria is still living in the dark ages as it regards the use of forensics in solving crime-related issues. There is an obvious dearth in the practice and use of forensic to solve crimes in Nigeria.

    The use of forensic analysis to solve crimes such as homicide, rape and assault involves various multi-faceted processes. Over the past decade, there has been an increasing fascination in the field of forensic science around the globe. Forensic science is undergoing a global expansion and it is becoming increasingly important, both as an area of study and in the criminal justice system.

    What area of criminal investigation can forensic science apply?

    The use of forensic analysis in criminal investigations such as homicide, rape and assault involves DNA testing, keeping a data base of present and past offenders, finger print dusting mechanism, bodily fluid collection and analysis, among others.

    It helps the police to identify criminals responsible for assault, robbery, kidnapping, rape and murder. Forensic scientists provide scientific evidence for use in the courts to support either the prosecution or defence in criminal and civil investigations.

    A common misconception about the work of forensic scientists is that they merely investigate murder and homicide. However, their job entails much more as they also focus on numerous specialisations, including DNA analysis, drug analysis, forensic chemistry, forensic anthropology, forensic photography, latent fingerprints and crime scene investigation and so on.

    For instance, some forensic scientists use scientific techniques in order to determine if industries are releasing harmful chemicals into the environment in dangerous quantities. As a result of the unimaginable detail that goes into each investigation, forensic scientists often specialise in specific areas which include toxicology, which is the study of poisons and drugs; odontology which is the study of teeth and bite patterns; pathology, the study of body fluids and tissues; and even entomology, the study of the type and degree of development of maggots on a corpse to determine how long ago the victim died.

  • Lagos trains auditors on forensic accounting certification

    Lagos trains auditors on forensic accounting certification

    The Lagos State Government has begun a week-long training programme for auditors within its employ on fraud detection and forensic accounting procedure in order to enhance proper auditing of the state government accounts.

    The programme, declared opened by the State Auditor-General, Mrs. Helen Deile at the Peninsula Resorts, Lekki at the weekend, was designed to further enhance accountability, integrity and transparency in the auditing system of Lagos state.

    Deile said the training was timely, especially with the rampant cases of fraudulent acts all over the world, stressing the need to check this abnormal trend and possibly eradicate it.

    According to her, the forensic accounting certification training was organised in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), to build the capacity of the auditors in the State Auditor General’s office about trends in the accounting and auditing profession.

    Deile expressed hope that the week-long training would make participants better officers in their respective work schedule to deliver on government mandates than before.

    She lauded the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) for granting approval for the In-house forensic accounting certification training programme for the auditors.

    She also praised the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), while sorting for smoother relationship with the institute.

    The Deputy Registrar, Technical Services of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Mr. Abel Aig Asein responding, commended the several giant steps always taken by the state government by cueing into laudable initiatives. He commended the state government for being the first state in the federation to embrace the forensic accounting training programme.

  • Forensic expert wants Nigeria out of corrupt nations  

    Forensic expert, Mr Steven Powell, has urged accountants to work towards getting Nigeria out of the list of corrupt nations.

    Powell, who is the Managing Director of ENS Forensics Limited, South Africa, spoke at the Fifth Convocation Lecture of the Nigerian College of Accountancy (NCA), Jos, a Post Graduate Accountancy College established by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). “My challenge to you is to get Nigeria away from the list. Accountants have practical roles to play in the future of the country as Nigeria is being perceived as a highly-corrupt nation,” he said.

    Powell said the association is happy about the upcoming whistle blowing legislation in Nigeria. “In Nigeria, people are so scared to come forward and blow the whistle. Staff should be courageous to come forward with information without fear. When dealing with organised crime syndicates, if the whistle blower’s identity is disclosed, his life is in danger. But if the identity is not disclosed, it is hard to get the whistle blower and his life is safer,’’ the forensic expert said.

    He urged accountants to report fraudulent practices to the law enforcement agencies, adding that accountants should also be vigilant. “Make sure your organisation adopts the necessary control measures as an auditor. Do not look the other way, act with honesty and integrity. Nigeria is rated at the bottom by Transparency International. We want to see Nigeria scoring at least 50 per cent mark by Transparency International,’’ he said.

    The International Adviser to ANAN, David Hunt said the association had been a very ethical and professional.