BENCHMARKING CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PROVISIONS UNDER NIGERIAN COMPANY LAW

Abstract

Good corporate governance practices have remained a mandatory prerequisite for proper regulations of companies. In a competitive global economy, an adequate regulatory framework to facilitate accountability, disclosure, and good business practices are indispensable. Consequently, company legislations are constantly evolving by incorporating internationally recognized corporate governance best practices. The objective of this study, therefore, is to determine the extent to which Nigerian Company law aligns with current global trends in corporate governance by benchmarking its provisions with the Company law of the United Kingdom (UK) and Ghana. To achieve the aforementioned objective, the doctrinal research approach was adopted to enable a critical content analysis of relevant laws. In addition, a comparative method was deployed to highlight the similarities and differences in the aforementioned laws. At the end of the study, we found that the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (the principal company law legislation in Nigeria) is similar in several respects to that of the UK and Ghana and also align with international best practices. We, therefore, conclude that the challenge to effective corporate governance in Nigeria is not due to the unavailability of laws or its inadequacy, but the need for effective enforcement. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Companies, Global Best Practices, Benchmarking