Abstract

Author:

Eguono Juliet Akpootu, Musa Yelwa Abubakar, Yahaya Yusuf, Fodio Garba, Hadiza Abdullahi Suleiman

Doi: 10.26480/seps.01.2026.01.08

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Despite efforts to combat corruption, Nigeria’s public sector continues to face this challenge. A key issue lies in the ineffective use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Focusing on three antigraft agencies, this paper examines the role forensic accounting plays in identifying corruption in Nigeria’s public sector so as to support government initiatives against corruption. The research design used in the study was descriptive survey, and structured questionnaires were used to gather data. Four hundred and five (405) respondents from pertinent antigraft agency staff were chosen for the study using Taro Yamane’s algorithm and a purposive sampling method. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions were employed as the data analysis approach based on 386 questionnaire responses from the respondents. Findings of the study revealed that the alternative dispute resolution mechanism had positive significantly relationship with public sector corruption in Nigeria, demonstrating that using forensic accounting techniques can help identify corruption in the public sector and that forensic accountants can help recover money lost due to financial malpractices, accounting fraud, embezzlement, and bribery. The study recommends utilization of alternative dispute resolution mechanism, in addition to other methods of handling corruption related issues in public sector organizations in Nigeria.