Corporate Governance Reforms in Nigeria: A Study of Shareholderss Right of Entry

Abstract

This study examined corporate governance reforms in Nigeria: a study of shareholders’ right of entry. The study explored corporate governance reforms in Nigeria right from the promulgation of the Corporate and Allied Matters Act of 1990, the introduction of the 2003 Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Code of Best Practices in Corporate Governance to the 2006 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Code of Corporate Governance for Banks in Nigeria. It used related literature to review and discuss the identified challenges in the corporate governance reforms with particular reference to shareholders’ right of entry. It discovered that some of the challenges to corporate governance reforms in Nigeria vis-a-vis shareholders’ right of entry stem from the country’s culture of institutionalized corruption and political patronage which is characterized by weak regulatory frameworks and refusal of government agencies to enforce and monitor compliance. The complexity of these challenges are compounded by the wide spread poverty and high unemployment which discourages a culture of whistle blowing. The study found that shareholder right of entry has been largely neglected in the few available studies on corporate governance in Nigeria.