Nigeria: Bank Fraud
In recent years, the volume and frequency of fraudulent practices in Nigerian banks have been on the increase. According to the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the level of reported fraud in Nigerian banks rose from N804m in 1990 to N3,199m in 1998. Furthermore, the proportion of actual/expected loss to the amount involved in fraud rose from 3 per cent in 1990 to 22 per cent in 1998. Perhaps the highest fraud ever reported in any particular year by a Nigerian bank occurred in 1998 when United Bank for Africa plc wrote off N786m on account of fraud. The growing scope and scale of fraud in the Nigerian banking industry is not surprising, given the rising profile of the country as a corrupt and fraudulent nation. For instance, a recent survey by Transparency International, a German‐based international organisation that interviewed business people worldwide, listed Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in the world. The country also has a poor reputation concerning drug trafficking. It has, for instance, been asserted that:
Online Publication Date: 10 April 2012 Publisher: Asian Economic and Social Society Fraud and Its Implications for Bank Performance in Nigeria Abdulraheem AbdulRasheed (Department of Accounting and Finance University of Ilorin, Ilorin)
In recent years, the volume and frequency of fraudulent practices in Nigerian banks have been on the increase with obvious implications on bank performance. The performance of Nigerian banking industry is a product of its returns and services rendered to the public as a whole. However, the occurrence and frequency of fraud in the banking sector over the years has negatively affected the performance of these banks in Nigeria. It is on this note that this paper examines the problem of fraud and its implications for bank performance in Nigeria through empirical analysis. The sources of data used for the paper were extracted from the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Annual Report from 2004 to 2009. Statistical methods such as parametric table and Pearson correlation were employed in the evaluation of the data. The study revealed that Nigerian banks recorded the highest fraud cases in 2008. The result of the hypothesis shows that, there is a significant relationship between total amount involved in fraud cases and bank‟s profit. On this note, it was recommended that fraud can be reduced by complying effectively with the policy measures which the government, monetary and supervisory authorities designed to curb the menace of bank fraud in Nigeria.
Contractor Failure: Analysis
The possibility exists for any construction contractor to fail to filfill the contract requirements associated with a facility. Contractor failure occurs when a contractor is unable to perform his/her contractual duties, thus requiring the facility owner to invoke the contract's nonperformance clause. This paper provides aggregate contractor business failure statistics and outlines potential causes for failure. A framework to identify and quantify the associated costs is also introduced. Several case studies are presented to examine the cause and cost of failure and the means by which the facilities were completed. Alternatives available for project completion when contractor failure occurs are discussed. Recommendations to identify and monitor contractors at high risk for failure are outlined as well. This paper provides facility owners with a greater awareness of the possibility of contractor failure, how to quantify costs of contractor failure, and avoidance techniques.