Economy
Senate Passes Forensic Accounting Bill
By Dipo Olowookere
The Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria Bill and Chartered Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria Bill were yesterday passed by the Senate.
This followed consideration of the clause by clause of a report submitted by Chairman of the Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Senator Emmanuel Paulker.
The report comprises Bills on Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria; Chartered Institute of Finance and Control in Nigeria; Chartered Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria.
Recall that prior to the passage of the Bill about four months ago Professional Accountants and Auditors from different bodies, at a public hearing on the Bills disagreed with the Senate on the proposed Bill for Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria; and Bill for Chartered Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria, respectively.
Consequently while speaking to participants at the forum, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun said the relevance of forensic accounting globally could not be over stressed, noting that many countries across the world, including Nigeria have suffered from fraudulent practices.
In their presentations, representatives of the Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria, Professor Usman Ali Awheela and the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria, CIFIAN, Mrs. Victoria Ayishetu Enape while applauding the senate for the proposed bills, noted that their members have not been allowed to practice forensic accounting since there was no legislation to that effect.
According to Mrs. Enape, if the Bill for Chartered Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria is passed “will help Nigeria to have skilled professionals to deepen the fraud prevention, detection and preserve money in government treasury for infrastructural development that is fast disappearing in our country today”.
She disabused the minds of stakeholders at the session about the alleged conflict between the functions of the CIFIA and other institutes established by existing legislations.
“CIFIA should not be seen as a rival to ICAN, just as CIFIA is not seen as a rival to ANAN. Nothing stops an accountant from becoming a member of ICAN and CIFIA or any other professional body for that matter”, she stressed.
Mrs. Enape further informed that accounting profession has many branches with different responsibilities with professional bodies regulating their activities.
She added that the “auditing which has no professional body regulating it, gave the opportunity for financial accountants to claim autonomy, and as a matter of fact leads to their inability to control and prevent fraud, corruption and other financial crimes”.
In his submission, the Chief Executive of Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria, Prof. Awheela, said “forensic accounting is the unique blend of education and experience in applying accounting, auditing skills and investigative techniques to uncover truth, form legal opinions in order to assist in litigation support”.
According to him, “forensic accounting professionals provide assistance on cases which are primarily related to calculation and estimation of economic damages and related issues that includes white-collar crimes”.
However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN kicked against the proposed bills, saying their functions and responsibilities are already contained in the 1965 Act that established the Institute and would therefore amount to needless duplication of functions.
ICAN President, Mr. Ismaila Zakari informed that the Institute had in 2009 established seven Faculties to provide training for members in their areas of specialization, adding that they also provide specialist certification courses and issue certificates to qualified members as evidence of expertise and authority to practise their specialized skills.
“The Forensic accounting curriculum is carefully drawn to ensure that, to be a forensic accountant, one must necessarily be a qualified chartered accountant, be certain of technical competence and preserved professional integrity.
“From the foregoing, Forensic accounting is adequately covered within the scope of the training that ICAN provides and therefore, the quest for a separate Institute for just Forensic accounting is totally uncalled for”, Zakari stressed.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira firmed up against the US Dollar in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, on the back of improved forex liquidity.
In the black market window, the local currency improved its value against the Dollar during the session by N10 to sell for N1,455/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,465/$1, and at the GTBank FX counter, it gained N33 gain to close at N1,386/$1 versus Monday’s closing value of N1,419/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the domestic currency appreciated against the greenback by N17.45 to trade at N1,372.91/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,390.36/$1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency chalked up N21.92 against the Pound Sterling yesterday in the official market to quote at N1,877.59/£1 compared with the N1,899.51/£1 it was exchanged a day earlier, and gained N24.76 against the Euro to settle at N1,619.76/€1 versus N1,644.52/€1.
The appreciation seen indicates that available supply is mopping up demand even without any intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in recent weeks, showing that market-driven currency framework is driving a stronger Naira.
Enhanced price discovery following plans by the apex bank to undertake a comprehensive revamp of the FX manual is acting as a pillar of support.
At a recent forum, the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, CBN, Mr Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, disclosed that the bank was revamping the manual, a key regulatory document used by banks for export proceeds and other foreign trade-related transactions.
According to him, the document was already undergoing significant reforms aimed at aligning market operations with current economic realities.
Mr Abdullahi explained that the revised manual would introduce clearer rules, stronger oversight and improved processes to support transparency and efficiency in the FX market.
He said the reforms are expected to close loopholes, reduce uncertainty for market participants, and support a more orderly functioning of the foreign exchange system.
Also, Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the CBN with the capacity to support the Naira, have continued to rise, reaching $46.59 billion as of 2 February 2026, according to CBN data.
In the cryptocurrency market, most prices still remained down as sentiment among short-term traders remaining cautious after thin liquidity and heavy liquidations pushed prices sharply lower.
Global crypto investment products saw $1.7 billion in outflows last week, marking the second consecutive week of heavy redemptions, with Solana (SOL) down by 5.2 per cent to $98.41.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 2.4 per cent to $76,638.44, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.0 per cent to $761.78, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 1.9 per cent to $2,277.16, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.6 per cent to $1.60, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) lost 0.1 per cent to sell at $0.9985.
However, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 1.7 per cent to $0.1084, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 1.2 per cent to $0.2868, and Litecoin (LTC) increased by 0.9 per cent to $60.63, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.31 per cent gain was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, helped by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, with the year-to-date return extending to 6.61 per cent.
It was observed that the growth achieved by Customs Street yesterday was supported by the banking and the industrial goods indices, which went up by 1.32 per cent and 0.69 per cent apiece.
They offset the losses recorded by the three other sectors, with the insurance counter down by 1.32 per cent, the consumer goods segment down by 0.23 per cent, and the energy space down by 0.17 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 516.94 points to 165,901.57 points from 165,384.63 points and the market capitalization appreciated by N333 billion to N106.495 trillion from N106.162 trillion.
The market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 35 price gainers and 34 price losers, representing bullish investor sentiment.
The quartet of Industrial and Medical Gases (IMG), Union Dicon, Zichis, and Austin Laz chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N34.65, N9.90, N5.06, and N4.07, respectively, while RT Briscoe appreciated by 9.95 per cent to N9.50.
On the flip side, Omatek lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.43, Cutix also fell by 10.00 per cent to N3.15, Union Homes shrank by 9.95 per cent to N76.90, Sunu Assurances declined by 9.94 per cent to N4.62, and Deap Capital crashed by 9.93 per cent to N7.62.
During the trading day, 736.4 million stocks worth N24.7 billion exchanged hands in 46,026 deals compared with the 762.8 million stocks valued at N18.4 billion traded in 55,374 deals a day earlier, indicating a rise in the trading value by 34.24 per cent, and a slip in the trading volume and number of deals by 3.46 per cent and 16.88 per cent apiece.
The activity chart was led by volume on the second trading session of the week by GTCO with 65.9 million equities valued at N6.5 billion, Chams transacted 55.7 million shares worth N249.8 million, Custodian Investment traded 49.8 million stocks for N2.2 billion, Universal Insurance sold 36.1 million equities valued at N51.5 million, and Zenith Bank exchanged 35.4 million shares worth N2.6 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market was up by nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday after the United States shot down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier and armed boats in the Strait of Hormuz, stoking concerns talks aimed at de-escalating US-Iran tensions could be disrupted.
This action caused the Brent futures to rise by $1.03 or 1.6 per cent to $67.33 per barrel, as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures jumped by $1.07 or 1.7 per cent to $63.21 a barrel.
Both crude benchmarks dropped more than 4 per cent on Monday after President Donald Trump said Iran was seriously talking with America.
However, the US military shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday.
In the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, Iranian gunboats approached a US-flagged oil tanker in what US and British maritime security sources describe as a failed attempt to interfere with the vessel’s transit.
Members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) including Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, mainly to Asia. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes, remains Iran’s most obvious pressure point.
Despite the latest development, the UAE urged Iran and the US on Tuesday to use the resumption of nuclear talks this week to resolve a standoff that has led to mutual threats of air strikes. Iran, meanwhile, is demanding that talks be held in Oman not Turkey.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia on Tuesday of exploiting a US-backed energy truce to stockpile munitions, and using them to attack Ukraine a day before peace talks. This boosted worries that Russia’s oil would remain sanctioned for longer.
On Monday, President Trump announced a trade deal with India, one of the world’s biggest economies and oil importers, on Monday to cut tariffs to 18 per cent from 50 per cent in exchange for the country halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 11.1 million barrels in the week ending January 30. Crude oil inventories decreased by 247,000 barrels in the week prior.
Official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be published later on Wednesday.
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