Survey of fraud prevention and detection methods in the fraud control strategies adopted in the Nigerian public sector

The objective of this research is to examine the specific elements of internal control systems in operation in Nigeria public sector organizations, and to assess the effectiveness of these controls. To achieve this objective, research questions and hypotheses were raised and related literatures to the study were reviewed. The study relied on the perception of skilled respondents who are knowledgeable in the area of study. The population of the study consists of Accountants, Auditors and Chief executives of selected ministries in the Nigerian government and some government agencies providing services related to fraud prevention and deterrence in Nigeria. A sample of 1530 was determined using stratified random sampling technique. The data for the study were mainly generated through primary source. The major instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. The instrument was subjected to both face and content validity by experts. The data generated from this study were analyzed using tables, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation and hypotheses were tested using t-test statistical tool with the aid of SPSS statistical package version 17.0. Incidence of control overrules by top officials can be used as surrogates to measure level of application hence the use of related questions on overrules in the questionnaire to elicit the data used for analysis on the extent of application. The analysis revealed poor application of fraud prevention and detection methods and this has significantly affected fraud control. The researcher recommends that accounting practitioners and managers may wish to invest in these methods in order to prevent the costly incidence of fraud in their organizations.