The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), has called on Federal, State and Local governments to review their procurement laws by including forensic experts to stop prevalent leakages in the process. This was stated against the backdrop of huge financial losses due to contract scams, procurement fraud, fraudulent court judgements and other related frauds to the tune of N1.4 trillion annually by the three tiers of government. The Institute added that the “current annual losses are expected to rise to N3 trillion by 2025 if nothing is done to remedy the situation.”
“Two things are required to change the narrative: One is to conduct a forensic review to look at the way contracts are awarded by government and second, digitization of the process” said CIFCFIN President, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, at the International Fraud Awareness Week in Abuja.
He said the traditional way of vetting contracts by looking at the clauses, is no longer tenable as it is susceptible to fraud. According to him, with forensic review, experts will be looking at the background of parties in the contracts; the terms and conditions of each clause and their implications of signing the contract and in the future. This way, all the suspicious contracts can be clearly seen by government.
“This will throw up all issues in the contracts that need to be renegotiated, and it will also throw up all issues that need to be expunged. He disclosed that the Institute, with a pool of forensic experts, is ready to partner with government at all levels to achieve this. The second aspect is digitization of the procurement process. “Once that is done, it makes it more accountable and more transparent. And all the body of knowledge to forestall challenges will now be inputted, and because it is AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven, you will discover that parties are notified of their obligations; of their failings; of their timelines and all of that; as defined in the contracts.
Speaking on the import of the International Fraud Awareness Week, CIFCFIN Acting Registrar, Dr. Isa Salifu said it is meant to sensitise and create awareness about the danger and implications of the “monster called fraud.