White-collar fraud's global persistence impairs accountability, transparency, and efficient public resource management, thereby posing a serious governance challenge. Despite the existence of regulatory bodies and anti-corruption frameworks, fraudulent practices such as contract inflation, procurement manipulation, embezzlement, falsification of financial records, and collusion between public officials and vendors continue to undermine institutional credibility in Nigeria. This study examined the effectiveness of management oversight in detecting and preventing whitecollar fraud within Nigerian ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). A survey research design was adopted, and primary data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to professional accountants in federal MDAs in Ondo State. A purposive sample of 109 respondents was drawn from a population of 160 MDA heads. Descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis were employed using EViews version 9. Findings revealed that management oversight jointly exerts a significant effect on fraud opportunity (F = 6.654, p < 0.05). Specifically, ethical culture recorded a positive but statistically insignificant effect (β = 0.080, p = 0.487); anti-fraud policies recorded a statistically significant positive effect (β = 0.287, p = 0.012); and internal control systems recorded a positive but insignificant effect at the 5% level (β = 0.216, p = 0.074). The study concluded that anti-fraud policies are the most critical management oversight mechanism for influencing fraud opportunity in Nigerian MDAs, while ethical culture and internal controls remain insufficient in isolation. Strengthened implementation of anti-fraud frameworks, whistleblowing mechanisms, and periodic review of internal controls are recommended.
Mamidu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.