The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), has said 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.
The CIFCFIN’s President and Chairman, Governing Council, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, made the disclosure during the 11th direct membership training/graduation ceremony, awards of fellowship, and third annual general meeting of the Institute in Abuja.
He stated that the Institute was willing to deploy its array of forensic experts to offer free technical assistance to the Federal Government to conduct the audit.
Gashinbaki noted that Nigeria’s economic prospects are tightly tied to its ability to generate, transmit, distribute, and manage energy efficiently.
His words: “Yet, as we speak, the sector’s performance remains one of the most glaring obstacles to economic growth, industrialisation and also one of the major problems that undermines the vision of the $1trillion economy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Gashinbaki recalled that before the privatisation of the sector in 2013, under a single national power authority, Nigeria generated 3,800 megawatts.
“However, despite the successful privatisation of the power sector into about 25 different companies and 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 humungous sum of N238.3billion on alternative power,” he said.
In his goodwill message, 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.
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.