As the world marks International Fraud Awareness Week, the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) has confirmed that from available information, the Federal, State and Local Assemblies have accumulated over 1.4 trillion yen annually in fraudulent contracts. announced that it had become clear that it was incurring losses on Nebula. procurement fraud, fraudulent court judgments, and other related fraud;
International Fraud Awareness Week is held from November 8th to 18th each year.
“If nothing is done to improve the situation, current annual losses are expected to increase to N3 trillion by 2025,” the institute added.
CIFCFIN said in a statement that this huge loss is why it is calling on all levels of government to review procurement laws to include forensic experts to plug holes in the process.
The statement quoted Dr. Ilyas Gasimbaki, Chairman of CIFCFIN, who spoke at the Forensic Science Museum in Abuja during this year’s International Fraud Awareness Week, as saying: One is to conduct forensic investigations into how governments award contracts, and the second, he said, is to digitize the process. ”
He said the traditional method of scrutinizing contracts by looking at their clauses is no longer sustainable due to the risk of fraud.
According to him, experts will conduct a forensic investigation into the background of the parties to the contract. The terms of each clause and their effect upon entering into the contract and in the future. This way, the government will have a clear view of all suspicious contracts. “This will highlight all the contractual issues that need to be renegotiated, but also all the issues that need to be erased,” he said, adding: added. Go to court and have the contract invalidated. That is why forensic examination is so important. That would give the government the option to either require the parties to renegotiate the contract or go to court to review or invalidate the contract. ”
He disclosed that the institute has forensic experts and is ready to partner with government at all levels to achieve this.
Regarding the second aspect, the digitalization of procurement processes, the President said: And because it is now populated with a full body of knowledge to prevent challenges before they occur and is driven by AI (artificial intelligence), parties know they are informed of obligations, failures, timelines, and more. Masu. As defined in the contract. ”
CIFCFIN Acting Registrar Dr. Isa Salifu said about the significance of International Fraud Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness and raise awareness about the dangers of fraud and its impact.
“By the way, what is fraud? Fraud is any act aimed at deceiving, with the main purpose of personal gain, primarily financial gain. Therefore, for us in Nigeria, this “The Institute remains the foremost institution authorized to provide assistance to us in terms of forensics and fraud investigations,” he explained.
He said Global Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL) entered Nigeria’s steel industry in 2004 and won five major concessions and share purchase agreements during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. It reminded me of something Bloomberg once revealed.
“The agreement was to first manage and later acquire Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited. However, the deal was canceled in 2008 after FG accused the company of asset stripping. In 2016, the federal government approved a revised concession agreement with GSHL, allowing the company to retain the Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Company in Itakpe. Three years later, the federal government withdrew from the agreement, sparking a legal battle involving both parties. “The $496 million settlement was 91 percent less than the $5.258 the company had originally claimed,” he said. According to the Attorney General and the Federal Minister of Justice at the time, the amount was $1 billion. Global Steel has been cleared by a London court over a $167 million debt owed to Moorgate Industries, and payments from Nigeria could provide a lifeline for the company, according to Bloomberg.