Determinants of Effective Internal Control System in Nigerian Banks

Abstract

This study was aimed at investigating the determinants of effective internal control system in Nigerian banks and the impact of such determinants. In order to generate the necessary data for the study, a questionnaire designed in modified Likert-scale was administered on twenty-one (21) chief internal auditors of selected recapitalized banks currently operating in Port Harcourt. The data were analysed using the mean scores and the multiple regression. Our findings in this study revealed that presentation of early report, respect for authority, willingness to effect changes, lack of workers collusion, workers competence, independence of internal control staff, management observance of control, good remuneration of internal control staff, cost of instituting internal control measures, willingness to enforce controls, control measures for unusual transactions, and well-designed organizational structure have a significant impact on the effectiveness of internal control system in Nigerian banks. Based on the finding of this study, the following recommendations were made: internal control staff should be made to be answerable to authorities outside management to promote independence, internal control staff should be given the autonomy to operate so that proper investigation of the activities of executive members can be carried out, high level ethical standards should be enshrined in Nigerian banks to make internal control more effective.

Key words: Determinants, internal control, Nigerian banks