A Comparative Assessment of Internal Control System in Public and Private Universities in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined a comparative assessment of internal control systems in public and private universities in Nigeria and it confirmed the establishment of private universities in Nigeria as a recent development. Questionnaire was adopted for the study and 12 universities in South West Geo-Political Zone of Nigeria were selected as the study sample using purposeful sampling technique. Universities selected cover 6 public universities and 6 private universities. Data collected were analyzed using factor analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. The findings of the result confirmed that internal control systems are the same in public and private universities in Nigeria, but that fusion of duties is more pronounced in private universities than public universities. Similarly, the finding rejects the notion that private universities are better funded than public universities and that internal control system can be over-ridden by management in both public and private universities. Examination of the effectiveness of internal control system in the private university shows that ICS is effective in reducing cost of running the university and also strengthened the attainment of a university goal and objective but the findings do not show support for ICS as a means of facilitating timely condition of academic calendar. However, it facilitates management system review in the private universities while results indicate that ICS in public universities shows limited number of efficiency is effective as a cost reducing measure in running the university and as a monitoring tool via an identifiable internal audit department.

Keywords: Internal Control System, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Universities