The Forensic Accountants' Skills and Ethics on Fraud Prevention in the Nigerian Public Sector

The study investigates the required skills and ethics of the forensic accountant in preventing fraudulent practices in the Nigerian public sector. The primary source of data was utilized for data collection. Using the simple random sampling (SRS), a total of 300 questionnaires were administered; 163 were retrieved. The data obtained was analyzed using SmartPLS - for measurement and structural model. One of the major findings revealed that skills requirement was significant predator of fraud prevention as well as ethics requirement. This means that the higher the skills and ethics of the forensic accountant, the better is the fraud prevention. It is thus, recommended that forensic accounting services should be made statutory in the Nigerian public sector to help in preventing fraudulent practices. Hence the need to create awareness and expand the application of forensic accounting services in Nigerian public sector.