Title:
AUDITING: A PANACEA FOR GROWTH OF PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN NIGERIAN ECONOM

Authors:
Sani Alfred Ilemona

Abstract:
The role of auditing in triggering growth of organizations cannot be over-emphasized. Prominent among these roles are the assessment of risks for material misstatement in organization’s financial transactions and reports, fraud detection, provision of error and fraud free information acceptable to lending institutions and prevention of misappropriation of organizations assets by employees among others. Unfortunately, most private sector organizations in Nigeria are yet to appreciate these crucial roles by their non- engagement or engagement of unqualified auditors not having the required experience, confidence, competence, tools and resources to discharge their duties. The case is worse with sole proprietorship and partnership organizations where auditing of their financial affairs is not mandatory or required by law. This study therefore is an exploratory review that examined various literature, empirical as well as theoretical studies on the relevance of auditing function in an organization. From the review, it was found that auditing is a veritable tool for promoting organizational growth and expansion yet to be fully embraced by private sector organizations in Nigeria. This is evidenced by cases of (i) fraud (ii) poor management of these organizations and (iii) their inability to access loanable funds from lending institutions both within and outside the country. The combination of the factors above has impaired the growth of these organizations in Nigeria. The paper therefore recommends that engagement of qualified auditors should be made mandatory by law for all private sector organizations operating in Nigeria. Their professional and advisory services will bear much on their growth