Audit standard and public audit practices: a case study of Osun and Ogun States of Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined various government audit practices using Osun and Ogun states of Nigeria as case studies. It also examined audit practices, extent of compliance with standards and identified the factors influencing compliance of the states audit practices. Data for the study was collected through primary source. A sample size of 150 questionnaires were purposively administered to professional Accountants who are in the public audit services of both private and government of Osun and Ogun states. Both descriptive and inferential statistics such as tables, graph, percentages, ANOVA and Regression were used to analyse the data. The regression and correlations analysis were used to assess the extent of compliance of states audit practices with standard and extent of influence, while ANOVA was used to determine joint impact of the independent variables on dependent variable.

The study revealed that standard and practice are positive and highly correlated in all the groups, while influence was positive and higher in groups 1 and 2 than group 3. Findings from hypotheses tested shows regression and p value as Group 1= (R = .719, p = .000) Group 2 (R = .699, p = .000), and Group 3 (R = .526, p = .001). ANOVA Group 1 (f = 25.166, p= .000) Group 2 (f = 22.453, p = .000) and Group3 (f = 8.969, p

= .001).

The study, therefore concluded that state audit practices complied with standards, but are highly influenced by politics, with far reaching implication on the financial reporting of the states