The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) has objected to a training programme by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) that leads to the Certified Forensic Accountant of Nigeria (CFAN) designation.
The institute said the programme has raised concerns within the forensic and fraud investigation profession.
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It also said that it has petitioned the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), asking it to persuade ICAN to suspend the certification.
The CIFCFIN made its position known in a statement signed by its registrar and chief executive Isa Salifu titled ‘Protecting the Integrity of Forensic Accounting Certification in Nigeria’.
The institute said its objection is not about resisting professional education or stopping any body from training members in accounting, audit, compliance, fraud risk management or forensic accounting.
Instead, it said the matter concerns statutory authority, professional identity and the need to prevent public confusion.
Salifu said the CIFCFIN was created by the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2022.
“The Act created a specialised professional institute for the training, regulation, supervision, certification and advancement of forensic and fraud investigation practice in Nigeria,” he said.
He said the institute’s legal mandate covers certification, competence, ethics, regulation, specialist education and standards in forensics and fraud investigation.
Salifu also pointed to ICAN’s official faculty page, which he said advertises a “Training programme for the Certified Forensic Accountant of Nigeria (CFAN).”
He said it is therefore “imperative that the legal and professional basis for the designation be publicly clarified”.
While acknowledging ICAN’s established role in accountancy education and practice, Salifu said a broad accounting mandate does not “automatically displace or override a later and specific statutory mandate granted to a specialist institute in the field of forensics and fraud investigation”.
He added that specialist statutory mandates should be respected in professional regulation.
According to Salifu, where an Act of the National Assembly creates a dedicated institute for a specialised profession, other organisations should avoid titles, actions or certification structures that could create the impression of parallel statutory authority.
