Dr Rabiu Olowo, Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), has urged auditors to uphold professional ethics, independence and accountability as artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly transforms the auditing profession.
Olowo gave the warning at the 2026 Audit and Assurance Leadership Summit, themed “Audit Integrity in the AI Era: Independence, Accountability and Reliable Financial Reporting.”
He said the rapid adoption of AI was changing how financial information is generated, processed, analysed and reported, creating new opportunities for auditors while also introducing fresh risks.
According to him, technology must serve as a tool to strengthen auditing rather than weaken the professional judgement and ethical standards on which the profession depends.
Olowo noted that auditors are increasingly deploying machine learning, predictive analytics, data analytics and continuous auditing tools to examine financial information.
These technologies, he said, could enable auditors to analyse significantly larger volumes of data, identify unusual transactions, improve fraud-risk assessment and increase the efficiency of audit processes.
AI can also provide auditors with deeper analytical insights and allow them to identify patterns that might be difficult to detect through traditional methods.
However, Olowo warned that the growing dependence on technology also creates risks that auditors must understand and manage.
These include inaccurate or poor-quality data, manipulation of information and cybersecurity threats.
He stressed that sophisticated technology should not lead auditors to abandon professional scepticism or accept AI-generated results without proper verification.
“Technology must never become an excuse for weakening the fundamental ethical principles of the profession,” he said.
The FRC boss also raised concerns about practices that blur the line between preparing financial statements and independently auditing them.
He warned that when auditors become too closely involved in preparing the financial information they are later expected to examine, they could face self-review threats.
Such situations, he said, could compromise objectivity and ultimately weaken public confidence in audited financial statements.
Olowo emphasised that audit integrity depends fundamentally on independence.
“Let me therefore emphasise this point very clearly, that audit integrity cannot exist where independence is compromised,” he said.
The warning comes at a time when companies and audit firms are increasingly adopting technology to automate financial reporting, analyse large datasets and improve internal controls.
While these developments can make audits faster and more comprehensive, they also require auditors to maintain clear professional boundaries.
In her keynote address, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, highlighted the broader economic importance of reliable financial reporting.
Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Chris Osa Isokpunuwu, the minister said credible financial information is essential to investment decisions, lending, policymaking and economic growth.
She acknowledged that AI presents significant opportunities across financial analysis, risk assessment, fraud detection, internal controls and audit processes.
However, she stressed that technological adoption must be accompanied by appropriate human oversight.
“Technology may change the tools of assurance, but it must never change the principles upon which assurance is built,” she said.
According to her, integrity, independence, professional scepticism, transparency and accountability must remain at the heart of the audit profession.
