Effect of Corporate Governance on Financial Statement Quality of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

This study examined the effect of corporate governance on financial statement quality of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study specifically examined the effect of board independence and audit committee on financial statement quality of listed deposit money banks in Makurdi, Benue State. of listed deposit money banks in Makurdi, Benue State. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey design involving 86 management staff of 15 of listed deposit money banks in Makurdi, Benue State. The study employed questionnaire as the major instrument for data collection. Result of the pilot study conducted showed that the reliability for each of the constructs was above 0.70. Regression analysis was used in testing the data gathered from the survey. Analysis was done with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 23). Findings revealed that board independence and audit committee have significant positive effect on financial statement quality of listed deposit money banks in Makurdi, Benue State. The study concludes that dimensions of corporate governance are statistically significant in explaining the quality of financial statements of listed deposit money banks in Makurdi, Benue State. The study recommended that directors and managers of listed deposit money banks should be made by law to own certain minimum percentage of shares due to the fact that an increase in managerial ownership will increase financial statement quality. Again we recommend that small audit firms when and if engaged by the of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria for audit work should not compromise the level of disclosure out of fear of losing the contracts.