Digital Forensic Accounting and Fraud Control in Nigeria’s Public Sector: An Assessment of Integrated Financial Management Systems (TSA, GIFMIS, IPPIS)

The Treasury Single Account (TSA), Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) are Nigeria’s integrated public financial management systems. This study looks at how digital forensic accounting can improve fraud control within these systems. These digitalised platforms have achieved notable quantifiable results since their post-2020 operational maturity, including as the eradication of 70,000 ghost workers through IPPIS, waste reduction of N126 billion through GIFMIS, and savings of over N10 trillion through TSA. However, ongoing high-profile fraud cases like the N109 billion alleged diversion involving a suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, show that digitisation by itself does not provide protection against financial crimes.

This study makes the case that integrating strong digital forensic accounting frameworks is essential to these systems’ effectiveness. The paper highlights deficiencies in investigation capability, data analytics scope, and forensic expertise as critical weaknesses based on current empirical research and official documents. To institutionalise proactive digital forensic oversight, it suggests strategic investments in forensic training, increased use of big data analytics, improved inter-agency database integration, and legislative changes. The results add to the current discussion about using technology to improve public financial accountability in poor nations.