Dike Onwuamaeze
A call has been made to auditors and assurance providers in the Nigerian financial system to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) with responsibility, appropriate governance and unwavering commitment to professional ethics.
This called was made yesterday in Lagos during the “FRC 2026 Annual Audit and Assurance Summit” by the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Dr. Rabiu Olowo; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, and the Auditor-General for the Federation (AudGF), Mr. Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira.
The theme of the summit was “Redefining Audit Integrity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Auditor Independence, Financial Reporting Responsibility and the Future of Assurance.”
Olowo said that the summit came at a particularly important time when audit and assurance profession is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in its history as technology is changing not only the way businesses operate, but also the way financial information is generated, processed, analysed, reported and ultimately relied upon by investors, regulators and other stakeholders.
He said: “AI is no longer a distant or emerging concept. It is already part of the business and financial reporting environment.
“Let us ensure that the adoption of AI in audit and assurance is guided by responsibility, appropriate governance and unwavering commitment to professional ethics.
“Together, we can build an assurance profession that is technologically enabled, professionally competent, ethically grounded and worthy of the confidence of investors, businesses, government and the Nigerian public.”
According to him, opportunities presented by technology must be considered alongside the risks by asking fundamental questions on how to “preserve professional scepticism in an increasingly automated audit environment?
“How do we ensure that technology complements, rather than replaces, professional judgement?
“How do we address the risks of algorithmic bias, inaccurate or incomplete data, manipulation and cybersecurity threats?
“How do we ensure that auditors understand and appropriately challenge the outputs generated by sophisticated technological tools?
“And, perhaps most importantly, how do we ensure that the cornerstone of the audit profession—independence—is never compromised?
“These are not merely technological questions. They are questions of ethics, accountability, governance and public trust.”
In her address to the summit, the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, FMITI, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, said that as “we embrace the opportunities that AI offer, we must avoid two extremes, resisting technological change on the one hand and placing unquestioning trust in technology on the other hand.
“We should neither fear AI nor assume that AI is infallible.”
In his goodwill message as a special guest to the summit, AudGF, Mr. Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira, said that AI is rapidly transforming the audit landscape and enabling auditors to examine larger populations of transactions, identify unusual patterns, improve risk assessment and deliver assurance with greater speed and precision.
Chira, who was represented by Assistant Director of Audit, Mr. Billo Mson Samuel, said that these developments present significant opportunities for both private and public sector auditing.
He however stressed that technology must remain an enabler of professional judgement rather than a substitute for it.
“As we embrace AI, we must equally recognise the new risks it introduces. Questions around algorithmic bias, data integrity, cybersecurity, confidentiality, transparency and explainability of AI-generated outputs are becoming increasingly relevant to audit quality.
“There is also the danger of excessive reliance on systems whose underlying assumptions, datasets or decision processes may not be fully understood by the auditor.
“The fundamental responsibility for an audit conclusion or opinion must therefore remain with the professional who signs it.
“Technology may support the evidence; it cannot assume accountability for the judgement,” Chira said.
He, therefore, said that “our commitment to technological innovation must never compromise the fundamental principles of independence, objectivity, professional scepticism, confidentiality, competence and integrity.
“Indeed, in an era in which technology can generate information at unprecedented speed and scale, these values become even more important.
“Reliable financial reporting is indispensable to accountability, investment decisions, fiscal sustainability and public confidence.”
Chira, therefore, urged participants to move the conversation beyond the question of whether AI will transform audit (because that transformation is already underway) to the more important question of how we will govern that transformation responsibly.
“We must develop appropriate ethical guardrails, strengthen quality management systems, invest deliberately in digital capacity, promote transparency in the use of AI, and ensure that human judgement and accountability remain at the centre of audit and assurance,” he said.
The President of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Ms. Zuwairat Talatu Kishimi, said that the focus should be on how to retain the fundamental principles of audit with the use of technology.
Kishimi said that it is time to revisit the “Audit Regulations 2020,” in order to provide a framework for auditors and assurance providers in the adoption of AI.