PROMOTING PRUDENT FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA: THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERNAL AUDIT

 Olofu, Paul Agbade; Opara, Jovita C. & Ihekoronye, Elizabeth O.

Abstract

This paper focused on promoting prudent financial management in secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja: the perspective of internal audit. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of internal audit on financial management in secondary schools the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It also ascertained the factors that affect internal auditing system in secondary schools. The study was guided by two objectives and research questions. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The sample of the study comprised of 162 account officers drawn from secondary schools across the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The sample was selected through simple random sampling technique while data were gathered and analyzed via questionnaire and mean respectively. Major findings revealed that internal audit has positive effect on the financial management of secondary schools; as it helps school principals improve on their accounting system, establishes the credibility of accounting records in the school system, helps in detecting errors and preventing fraud in the school system, and promotes accountability in the school system. Result further showed that shortage of qualified internal school auditors, bribing of auditors by school management, poor remuneration for auditors, inadequate training and retraining of school accountants, falsification of audit reports my auditors and poor financial data management by most school administrators are some of the major factors that tend to affect internal audit in the educational system. The study recommended that: i. Since internal auditing has positive effect on the financial management of the school schools, every school should adopt the mechanism to enhance its financial management. Since one of the factors affecting internal auditing in secondary schools is inadequate training and retraining of school accountants, school principals should frequently send their accountants for refresher’s course (s) in order to abreast them of new developments.

Keywords: Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Financial Management and Accounting Audit.

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