The heads of internal audits in Nigerian universities have attended a two-day conference organised by the School of Business of the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The conference, on the theme, “Safeguarding the Governance of the University,” was to hone the professional skills of the Nigerian internal auditors in principles of good governance, accountability and transparency to improve their respective institutions.
The conference exposed the participants to financial audit, operation audit, structural integrity audit, human resource audit, fraud audit, and risk management audit.
Speakers at the conference included seasoned internal auditors from the Internal Audit Agency in Ghana, as well as internal auditors from Ghanaian universities.
The Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Commissioner of Police COP (Mrs) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, took participants through forensic audit.
Dean of the School of Business, Prof. John Gatchie Gatsi
Addressing the participants, the Dean of the School of Business, stated that the role of internal auditors could not be overemphasized in any private or public organisation, noting that “they assure the implementation of regulations and policies to enhance the space of accountability and transparency and ensure value for money.”
He said it was important that the auditors abided by the code of ethics as enshrined in the global internal audit standards to make them stand out as people who belong to a profession worth defending.
In line with their work, the Dean admitted that “Internal auditors have to battle with psychological difficulties in their work and ethical dilemma all the time if they are minded to do the right thing.”
He urged stakeholders to support the work of internal auditors to enable them deliver their mandate.
Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Kwame Osei Kwarteng
The Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Kwame Osei Kwarteng, who chaired the event, urged the internal auditors to leverage their expertise and devise strategies for better resource management of their various institutions.
He noted that the theme of the conference could not be more relevant and urged the participants to take the training seriously and make the best use of the opportunity.
The Registrar of the College of Education Studies, Dr. Atta Yeboah-Sarpong, who represented the acting Registrar of UCC, Mr. Ebenezer Aggrey, in a remark, told participants to integrate the knowledge and experience gained in the conference into working collaboratively with others to ensure that their organisations provide accurate financial reporting.
Some of the internal auditors from Nigerian universities who participated in the conference
Some of the participants, who spoke to reporters after the event, expressed their gratitude to the organisers of the conference for giving them a deeper insight into audit and asked for more of such conferences to be organised for internal auditors in the sub-region to learn about new trends and best practices.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC