The Impact of Auditing in Controlling Fraud and Other Financial Irregularities

Fraud in the Nigerian Banking Industry before the recent merger, acquisition and recapitalization efforts was at alarming rate. It has caused many banks to collapse, and many investors and depositors funds were trapped in. Infact it has prevented many banks from achieving their goals and many businesses went into liquidation. Honestly speaking it has become a cankerworm that has eating deep into the financial sector of the Nigerian economy. That calls for the need for this study and the purpose of this study therefore is to identify the causes of fraud, measure its impact and identify the means of controlling it. The study is a survey research and questionnaire was used for the collection of primary data. Questionnaires were administered to staff of First Bank of Nigeria PLC. Chi-square was used in analyzing data. The findings show that lack of adequate training, communication gap, and poor leadership skills were the greatest causes of fraud in Nigerian banking industry. It was concluded that adequate internal control system should be put in place and that workers satisfaction and comfort should be taking care of.