ABSTRACT

In the Nigeria public sector, evidences of fraud, irregularities, errors and inefficiencies abound. This ugly situation has to a large extent eroded public confidence in the sector and has called to question the strengths and adequacies of the internal control mechanisms in these organizations. No, doubt, a strong internal control system ensures compliance with applicable laws, policies and regulations, adequate safeguard of assets and the assurance of proper and accurate reporting of transactions. Consequent upon the foregoing, the researcher was able to bring to the fore, the benefits that are derivable from a sound internal control system and the short and long-run cost implications if it is neglected. The Customary Court of Appeal, Umuahia was used as a case point in this study, and generalizations drawn from the organization. The work was divided into five chapters. The first chapter introduced the topic, the subject matter, stated the problem that necessitated the study and associated research questions. Three hypotheses were also formulated in chapter one and was tested in chapter four. Chapter two of the work highlighted the views of scholars on the subject matter and its theoretical frame work. Chapter three dealt with the research methodology; encompassing the design, instrumentation, data collection and analysis technique. In chapter four, data generated through the instrumentality of the questionnaire were presented and analyzed using simple percentages and the Chi-square testing technique. The findings and recommendation of the study were presented in chapter five. Also, presented in the last chapter are suggestions for further studies to improve on what the researcher may have achieved. The researcher accepts every mistake or omission found in this work as hers.