Stakeholders' perception of the independence of statutory auditors in Nigeria

Abstract

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, there were celebrated cases of corporate frauds and financial misappropriation in corporate giants. The series of frauds have left a sense of doubt about the 'unbiasedness' of external auditors to render an attest function on the credibility of published financial statements. In this light, this research sought to empirically investigate into the perception of auditor independence in Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on the opinions of randomly selected lecturers of auditing, practicing auditors, stockbrokers, shareholders and managers. Primary data was extensively relied upon. In addition to the primary data, secondary data from annual reports were also used. The data collected were used to answer research questions and test hypotheses. Test of hypotheses was performed using Pearson Correlation and Kendall's measure of concordance at a 0.05 level of significance. The outcome of the tests showed that the selected respondents perceived size of audit fee as the most influencing factor, capable of deterring auditor independence in Nigeria. It was also observed that existing laws were obsolete and need to be updated to make them relevant. .