A Comparative Analysis of Corporate Governance Attributes and Audit Quality

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the results of relationship between corporate governance attributes and audit quality with empirical evidence from the consumer goods and financial services sectors. Board diligence and independence were the two board attributes used against audit quality to establish the relationships. Based on the use of historical data for the study, an ex-post facto research design was adopted. Thirty-four (34) firms quoted on the Nigerian Stocks Exchange were used for the study. For our hypotheses testing, descriptive and Logistic Regression statistics were applied for the dataset covering four (4) years from 2015 to 2018 – a post- corporate governance and IFRS-adoption period. In the consumer goods sector, the result shows that the independence of the board has positive and significant relationship with audit quality. While board independence and diligence have both negative and no significant relationship with audit quality for firms in the financial services sector. The study therefore recommended that adequate attentions should be paid to the enhancement of board independence and there should be increase in the number of Board meetings especially in consumer goods sector in line with SEC code of 2018 directive which call for at least 4 board meetings annually.