AUDITORS RESPONSIBILITIES/ROLES AND THE EXPECTATION OF PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS: AN ANALYSIS OF VOLTA RIVER AUTHORITY /NORTHERN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY (VRA/NEDCo) STAFF

Abstract

The study determine the expectation gap of public sector workers on the responsibilities of Auditors, as well as the role Auditors actually play in achieving the aims and objectives of Volta River Authority /Northern Electricity Distribution Company (VRA/NEDCo). The research adopted a survey and quantitative approach in carrying out the study. Primary and secondary sources of data were used for the research. Close ended Questionnaires were use in the collection of the primary data and sample size of 142 was selected based on appropriate sample technique. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20. The study revealed that, 30.2% of Accounts/ finance staff view that auditors are not responsible for detecting all fraud, whiles 33.3% of the internal auditors believed that auditor is responsible for detecting all fraud. The study also reveals that 50.0 percent of the auditors agreed that auditors are responsible for preventing fraud in VRA/NEDCo. It furthered reveals that 35.2 percent of the respondents agreed that internal auditors are responsible for the soundness of the internal control structure of VRA/NEDCo. Thus, it is recommended that reasonable expectations of the staff could be ascertained through education about the role of the auditor and the auditing standards relating to their role, public education about the auditor's role should be facilitated through annual meetings and other events which are organized for the purposes of educating users of financial information. VRA/NEDCo management should also consider decentralizing its internal audit unit to the operational areas to enable staff understands and appreciate the work of auditors.