EXTENT OF MANAGERS’ COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNAL AUDIT GUIDELINES FOR PAYROLL AND EXPENSES IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent managers in public and private colleges of  education in South East, Nigeria complied with internal audit guidelines for payroll and expenses. This study was carried out in South East States of Nigeria using all public and private colleges of education in the area. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for this study comprised 952 financial managers in public and private colleges of education in South East, Nigeria. The sample for the study comprised 540 respondents made up of 331 financial managers in public colleges of education and 209 financial managers in private colleges of education selected from three out of the five States in the South East, Nigeria. The data for the study were collected using a self-structured questionnaire entitled “Managers’ Compliance with Internal Audit Guidelines Questionnaire” (MCIAGQ). The researcher validated the instrument by consulting three experts. Two of them are from Department of Educational Management and Policy and one from Department of Educational Foundations, all in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. To establish the internal consistency of the instrument, the researcher conducted a pilot test by administering 20 copies of the instrument which were administered to 20 financial mangers
comprising 14 from public colleges of education and 6 from private colleges of education in SouthSouth, Nigeria. Cronbach Alpha was used in the data analysis which yielded coefficient values of
0.81, 0.83, 0.79, 0.80 and 0.82 for the five clusters and an overall reliability value of 0.81. Copies of the data collection instrument were administered on the respondents in the institutions personally by the researcher with the help of two research assistants who are lecturers in the colleges of education. The data generated through the structured questionnaire were analysed using simple percentages and aggregate scores. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test statistics. Findings indicated that greater number of managers in public and private colleges of education in South East of Nigeria do not comply highly with internal audit guidelines for payroll and expenses. Among others, it was recommended that the appointment of provosts and other members of the college management should be based on merit and proven character that could be trusted.