Effect of Forensic Auditing on Public Expenditure Management of Federal Agencies in Bayelsa State

Abstract

The study looked at the impact of forensic auditing on public expenditure management of federal agencies in Bayelsa state. Financial mismanagement, fraud, low accountability, and poor use of government resources are perennial problems in government institutions, prompting the study. More specifically the study focused on financial litigation and fraud risk assessment on public expenditure management. A Cross Section Survey research design was used and the data collected were administered by means of a structured questionnaire to the employees of selected Federal agencies in Bayelsa State. The study employed a census sampling technique where the number of respondents were 137 and the entire population was the ones to be sampled. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 26. The findings showed that financial litigation had a strong positive impact on public expenditure management, which means that through effective legal enforcement, recovery of misappropriated funds and prosecution of financial offenders, the accountability in public expenditure utilization is increased. The study also revealed that the fraud risk assessment significantly enhances public expenditure management as it helps agencies identify vulnerabilities, reinforce internal control and neutralize fraudulent activities. The study has revealed that forensic audit is an effective tool for enhancing transparency, accountability and efficient management of federal funds in federal agencies. It suggested that the federal agencies should put more effort into strengthening the forensic auditing practices by incorporating fraud risk assessment frameworks and financial litigation mechanisms, for better public expenditure management.

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