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Business News of Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Auditor General commissions forensic laboratory in Abuja

The opening of a forensic laboratory in Abuja by the Auditor General of the Federation yesterday gave a boost to Nigeria's fight against financial crimes.

The Auditor General of the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu, said at the ceremony that forensic auditing would aid in the prosecution of financial crimes by providing the necessary evidence that is admissible in court.

While labeling the forensic laboratory as long overdue, he revealed that it has been in the works since 2017 and has been delayed owing to a lack of funding.

He also said that this office has finished training the first group of forensic auditors who would be in the forefront of the struggle.

"Today, our ambition has come true. The budgetary allocation for this financial forensic laboratory was made in 2017, and it will go into effect in 2018. We only managed to raise N74 million over the course of three years.

"We were unable to complete the procurement until 2020. In 2021, we were able to complete the acquisition and bring this office's ambition of having a forensic laboratory to fruition.

"We have not only established a forensic laboratory, but we have also educated 21 forensic auditors who will conduct a minimum of five forensic audits at MDAs around the country during the next week.

"Today's tendency is that even if you've done regular auditing, if you need proof that can stand up in court, you'll turn to forensic auditing."

"It's not just about audit evidence for the National Assembly; it's also about material that may be compiled and presented to the courts for criminal prosecution."

He disclosed that his office originally planned to train only five persons due to paucity of funds but after receiving over 40 expression of interest, it had no other option than to increase the number of trainees to 21.

Furthermore, Aghughu noted that subsequent batches would be trained to cover the existing gaps in the country.

He also said that the auditors trained will not be limited in anyway, as they are well equipped to work both physically and virtually.