The Relevance of Forensic Accounting Techniques in Combating Corrupt Practices in Selected Public Tertiary Institutions in Southwest Nigeria

The inability of the government to eradicate corruption in the education sector harms the standard of education in Nigeria. Evidence from the literature indicated that the dilapidated infrastructure, low standard of education, underfunding of education for research and development, and demotivation of the academic staff for productivity were attributed to corruption that has pervaded the sector in southwest Nigeria. The ineptitude of the existing audit and investigation techniques to curb corrupt practices called for the introduction of forensic accounting. The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 257,061 stakeholders in selected six universities and six polytechnics in southwest Nigeria, the sample size of 399 was determined using the Taro Yamani formula. A stratified sampling technique was used to administer the copies of the questionnaire to the respondents. The findings of the study revealed that forensic accounting techniques had a significant effect on corrupt practices in selected public tertiary institutions in southwest Nigeria (β= 0.299, t=7.462, p = .000); (β= 0.083, t =1.559, p=0.120); (β= 0.187, t=3.578, P=0.000). The study concluded that forensic accounting resolved corrupt practices in public tertiary institutions. The study recommended that the government should establish a forensic account, audit and investigation unit in every tertiary institution to ensure accountability and transparency in their financial operations. The administration of tertiary institutions in southwest Nigeria should institute legal action against any official caught with corrupt practices to deter others from such behavior.