Internal controls refer to the measures instituted by an organization so as to ensure attainment of the entity’s
objectives, goals and missions. They are a set of policies and procedures adopted by an entity in ensuring that an
organization’s transactions are processed in the appropriate manner to avoid waste, theft and misuse of
organization resources. Internal Controls are processes designed and effected by those charged with governance,
management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance about the achievement of an entity’s
objectives with regard to reliability of the financial reporting, effectiveness and efficiency of operations and
compliance with applicable laws and regulations (Mwindi, 2008). It is worth noting that internal controls only
provide reasonable but not absolute assurance to an entity’s management and board of directors that the
organization’s objectives will be achieved. “The likelihood of achievement is affected by limitations inherent in
all systems of internal control” (Hayes et al., 2005).
In Cross River State College of Education, Akamkpa, financial performance is one aspect that has not been given
the attention it deserves. College staff has in a number of cases been given College resources and have failed to
account for the resources entrusted to them or have not made the necessary accountabilities on time. During the
1980s, several high-profile audit failures led to creation of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO), organized for the purpose of redefining internal control and the criteria for
determining the effectiveness of an internal control system They studied the causal factors that can lead to