Concomitant Debacle of Fraud Incidences in the Nigeria Public Sector: Understanding the power of Fraud Triangle Theory

Detecting and preventing fraud is not an easy task, especially in the Nigerian public sector because it requires comprehensive knowledge about the nature of fraud, how it can be perpetrated and obscured by the fraudsters. Consequently, this study was, conducted with the primary aim to examine the significance relationships between the elements of FTT and fraud incidences towards combating the fraud outrages in the Nigerian public sectors. It was found that various factors are linked to the fraud perpetration in the public sector such as greediness of the high-profile government officials and poor standard of living for the lower rank officers. Equally, it is suggested that the Nigerian government should establish Salary Scale Reform (SSR) to increase the civil servants’ salary and provides fringe benefits to improve employees’ standard of living. Additionally, the Nigerian government should initiate a training scheme such as workshop, seminar and conference to enhance the employees’ moral behaviour and understand the negative impact of fraud on their behaviour and Nigerian economy. The study will immensely help Nigerian government and anti-graft bodies to understand why and how the public servants commit fraud so as to apply an appropriate control measure to combat the menace. From the academic perspective, this study stems to bridge the gap of insufficient study in relation to the application of FTT toward curtailing the broad range of possible causes of fraudulent activities.