EFFECT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CHARACTERISTICS ON AUDIT REPORT LAGS OF CONSUMER GOODS COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigates the effects of corporate governance characteristics on audit reports lag of consumer goods companies in Nigeria which are Guinness Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Nestle Plc, Cadbury Plc and Unilever Plc. These five (5) companies were selected based on the availability of data, their performance in the Nigerian consumer goods sector, and the popularity of these companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study covers the period of 7 years from 2015-2021. From the finding of the 2 study, the R shows that the model is a good fit. This indicates that a change in dependent variable (audit report lags) will lead to change in the independent variable (board size, board independence and audit committee composition). The study reveals that board size has a negative significant impact on the audit report lags of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria, board independences has an insignificant negative impact on the audit report lags in Nigeria while audit committee composition has a significant positive effect on audit report lags of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. It is also indication that the independent variables have a great impact on the dependent variables and cannot be neglected. The result of the findings also shows that the based on the VIF and the tolerance value (1/VIF), the model can be described as fit and robust for the study, which implies the appropriateness of fitting the model of the study with the independent variables. . The study concludes that board size, board independence and audit committee composition have an influence on audit report lag. Specifically, the study conclude that board size and audit committee composition have significant effect on audit report lag of consumer goods companies in Nigeria while board independences has an insignificant negative impact on the audit report lags in Nigeria. The study recommended that company Boards should be constituted by persons of integrity that can match words with action and foster prompt financial disclosures for the interest of the shareholders whom they representedand that the size of the firms should not be a yardstick in delay of the audit report. Once an auditor is engaged, irrespective of the size of the firm, it is expected that all logistics are put in place so as to meet up with the agreed completion of the audit for prompt disclosure.