Corporate Goverance and Corporate Social Responsibility of Listed Companies in Nigeria

This study examined corporate governance and corporate social responsibility of companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the period 2010 - 2013. To achieve this objective, agency theory and resource dependency theory is adopted to understand the extent to which corporate governance characteristics such as board independence, board size, public ownership, foreign ownership and CEO duality impacts on corporate social responsibility disclosures of employee welfare and training, donation and community development and environmental and government policies. The data for this study were obtained from the annual reports of sampled companies and econometric tools of diagnostic test and regression analysis were used for the analysis of data. Our results suggest that there is a significant relationship between board independence, public ownership and foreign ownership on corporate social responsibility disclosures in the annual reports. However, the results also suggest no significant relationship between board size and CEO duality on corporate social responsibility disclosures in annual reports of Nigerian companies. Hence, the study concludes that corporate governance plays a major role in the disclosure of organizations social responsibility. The study also made useful recommendations on improving corporate social responsibility disclosure in annual reports. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Agency Theor

Determinants of Internal Auditors’ Whistleblowing Intentions of Selected Quoted Companies in Nigeria

There have been arguments in the whistleblowing literature on whether the internal reporting of corporate wrongdoings should be considered as an internal whistleblowing act, and whether internal auditors should also be regarded as whistleblowers. Despite the fact that internal auditors hold a unique position in their organisations to prevent and detect corporate wrongdoings, the role of this profession in investigating ethical decision-making behaviour has been much neglected. Hence, there is little research concerning internal auditors’ internal whistleblowing intentions in the literature. The purpose of this study is to investigate internal auditors’ internal whistleblowing intentions on corporate wrongdoings in Nigeria. Four research questions and hypotheses were formulated and tested. Twenty selected listed companies were used for the study using purposive sampling technique. One hundred and forty questionnaires were distributed for the study. The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection after validity and reliability test. The data collected from the questionnaire were analysed using percentages while the hypotheses were tested using multiple regression tool at 0.05 level of significance. All the null hypotheses were rejected and the alternative hypotheses accepted. The findings showed that organizational factors (ethical climate, size of organisation), individual factors (ethical judgment, locus of control and organizational commitment), situational factors (seriousness of wrongdoers and status of wrongdoers) and demographic factors (gender, age and tenure) are statistically significantly related to internal auditors’ whistleblowing intentions of listed companies in Nigeria.  Suggestions and recommendations were also made to provide basis for the improvement of internal auditors’ function and duties in Nigeria. Keywords: Internal Auditors, Whistleblowing, Corporate wrongdoings, Corporate Governance

External Debt Management and Economic Growth in Nigeria: 1981 - 2013

This study examines external debt management and economic growth in Nigeria for the period 1981 - 2013. To achieve this objective, data was collected from secondary sources such as scholarly books and journals.  The data collected were analyzed using relevant diagnostics tests, unit root test, granger causality test and multiple regression models. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between external debt payment and stock on the gross domestic product of Nigeria for the period under review. Hence, the paper concludes that the effective application of external debts into productive activities in the economy will stimulate economic growth. Therefore, the paper recommends that policy makers in Nigeria and foreign interests (especially the creditors to the developing economics) should be more conscious and concerned about the importance of effective external debt management to economic development processes.  Towards achieving this goal, the relevant authorities should employ a better technique to effect external debt management in terms of acquisition and optimal deployment of such debt should be channel to areas that will have direct bearing on the people. Keywords: External Debt, Management, Economic Growth, Nigeria,

Role Theory and the Concept of Audit Expectation Gap in South-South,

Abstract: This study examines the role theory and audit expectation gap and the performance of internal auditors in the prevention of financial misappropriation of funds in the public sector of South South Nigeria. Audit expectation gap is the difference between the levels of expected performance as envisioned by the users of financial statements and by the independent accountant. To achieve the objective of this paper, data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary source was generated from a well structured questionnaire administered to 120 internal auditors in Bayelsa State and Cross Rivers State in South South Nigeria. The researchers only collected 96 usable questionnaires that were analysed using Spearman rank order correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney U test and descriptive statistics. The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between audit expectation gap and internal auditors in the prevention financial misappropriation of funds in the public and there is significant difference between the perceptions of auditors and users whether the intervention of management hinders the effective performance of internal auditors in South South, Nigeria. On the basis of the findings, the paper concludes that internal auditors in the public sector in Nigeria is not performing the audit responsibility with all level of professional and technical expertise as expected by the society. This is why there is wide spread misappropriation of public sector funds and massive corruption in Nigeria. Therefore, the paper recommends amongst others that internal auditors in All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should have the requisite professional qualification (example, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria), the issuance of new audit standards for public sector accounting system

Effect of Tax Administration and Revenue on Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study examines the effect of tax administration and revenue on economic growth of Nigeria. To achieve the objective of this paper, data was collected from primary and secondary sources. The secondary sources were from scholarly books and journals while the primary source involved a well structured questionnaire of three sections of sixty five items with an average reliability of 0.78. The data collected from the questionnaire and secondary data were analyzed using relevant regression analysis. The results reveal that there is a significant relationship between there is significant relationship between Personal income tax revenue (PITR) and per capita income, Company income Tax Revenue and Gross Domestic product of Nigeria, VAT revenue and PCI of Nigeria, Petroleum Profit Tax revenue and GDP of Nigeria and tax administration and Gross domestic product of Nigeria. Hence, the study concludes that tax administration and revenue does affect the economic growth of Nigeria for the period under study. The paper recommends amongst others that more reforms in the tax administrations and collection is needed so as to eliminate, if possible the areas that can cause revenue leakage as a result of loopholes in tax collection and remittances from the authorities, and this is capable of limiting the economic growth of the nation. Keywords: Taxation, Economic Growth, Tax Administration, Tax Revenu

Petroleum Profit Tax and Economic Growth: Cointegration Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of petroleum profit tax on the economic growth of Nigeria. To achieve the objective of this paper, relevant secondary data were collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from 1970 to 2010. The secondary data collected from the relevant government agencies in Nigeria were analysed with relevant econometric tests of Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM, White Heteroskedasticity, Ramsey RESET, Jarque Bera, Johansen Co-integration and Granger Causality. The results show that there exists a long run equilibrium relationship between economic growth and petroleum profit tax. It was also found that petroleum profit tax does granger cause gross domestic product of Nigeria. On the basis of the empirical analysis, the paper concludes that petroleum profit tax is one of the most important direct taxes in Nigeria that affects the economic growth of the country and therefore should be properly managed to reduce the level of evasion by petroleum exploration companies in Nigeria. The paper recommends among others that companies involved in petroleum operations should be properly supervised by the relevant tax authority (FIRS) to reduce the level of tax evasion; government should show more accountability in the management of tax revenue and finally, the level of corruption in Nigeria and that of government officials should be drastically reduced to win the confidence of tax payers for voluntary tax compliance

Audit Committee And Timeliness Of Financial Reports: Empirical Evidence From Nigeria

Financial information needs to be available to users as rapidly as possible to make corporate financial statementinformation relevant for decision making process. Timely reporting on financial statements is necessary forhealthy financial markets. This paper examines the effect of audit committee and timelines of financial reportsfor thirty five firms quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the period 2007-2011. The data for thisstudy were collected from the annual reports and accounts. The collected data were analysed using relevantdiagnostic tests, pooled least square and granger causality test. The result suggests that audit committeeindependence (ACI) is significantly related to the timeliness of financial reports; Audit committee meeting(ACM) is not significantly related to timeliness of financial reports; Audit committee expertise (ACE) issignificantly related to the timeliness of financial reports and Audit committee size (ACS) is not significantlyrelated to the timeliness of financial reports. On the basis of the empirical result, the paper made conclusions andrecommendations for effective and efficient audit committee characteristics to meet the 21st century complexcorporate environment.Keyword: Audit committee, financial report, timelines

Forensic Accounting & Auditing Techniques on Public Sector Fraud in Nigeria

The purpose of this paper was to empirically analyze the effect of forensic accounting and auditing techniques on public sector fraud detection, investigation and prevention in Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to establish the effect of the various techniques of forensic accounting on public sector fraud and secondly, to determine the effect of forensic auditing on fraud detection, investigation and prevention. The research design used in this study was expost factor design. The study employed restructured questionnaire for data collection after validity and reliability with regression analysis for hypothesis testing. The study revealed that the relationship between forensic accounting and auditing techniques and public sector fraud detection, investigation and prevention in Nigeria is quite significant. The study therefore concludes that forensic accounting and auditing techniques is a major panacea to the level of fraudulent activities experienced in the Nigerian public sector. It was recommended among others that government should consider providing more fraud hotlines, improve the whistleblowing policy and establish forensic accounting department in the public sector in order to enhance the fraud detection, investigation and prevention mechanism in the public sector. The paper fills an important gap in academic literature by providing insights into the techniques of forensic accounting and auditing in developing economies. Keywords: Forensic Accounting, Auditing, Fraud, Public Sector

Fair Value Accounting & Challenges of Audit Practice in Nigeria

Fair value is the amount at which an asset can be bought or sold in a current transaction between willing parties, or transferred to an equivalent party, other than in a liquidation sale. This study evaluated fair value accounting and challenges of audit practice in Nigeria. This study is anchored on inspired confidence theory. The research design used in this study was expost factor design. The study employed structured questionnaire for data collection and the method of data analysis utilized was spearman rank order correlation. The findings of this study showed that fair value accounting poses greater technical challenges for auditors than historical cost accounting. In conclusion, auditors face extensive difficulties in the audit of fair value accounting estimates reported by their clients due to the lack of sufficient reliable information. We therefore recommended among others that The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) should improve the scrutiny of external auditors and companies financial reports; auditors should be given adequate training and retraining through the Mandatory Continuous Professional Education Programme (MCPE) of ICAN for them to be abreast on current issues relating to fair value accounting measurements and the regulatory authorities should monitor the performance of specialist involved in the evaluation of companies and their assets, including implementing some procedures to license these individuals and the check on their qualifications and experiences. Keywords: Fair Value Accounting, Audit Practice, Fair Value Estimates

Corporate Governance Structure and Timeliness of Financial Reports of Quoted Firms in Nigeria

This paper examines the impact of corporate governance on the timeliness of financial statements of quoted firms in Nigeria. To achieve this objective, data was collected from books, financial statements and journals. The data collected were analysed using relevant diagnostics tests, granger causality and multiple regression models. The result revealed a significant relationship between board independence and timeliness of financial reports; board size and timeliness of financial reports; board expertise and knowledge and timeliness of financial reports; board experience and timeliness of financial reports; also no significant relationship between CEO duality and timeliness of financial reports and board meetings and timeliness of financial reports. On the basis of the empirical result, the paper concludes that the application of appropriate corporate governance factors will go a long way to improve the timeliness of financial reports and quality financial statements Therefore, on the basis of the findings and conclusions of the study, we recommends that quoted companies should ensure that corporate governance codes are used in the day-to-day operations of corporation to achieve short, medium and long-term goals; government should ensure that regulatory agencies monitor the activities of corporations to ensure compliance with best practice. Also above all integrity, objectivity and fairness must be applied in the conduct of corporate business for financial statement needs be achieved for users. Keywords: Corporate governance, financial report, timeliness, Boards, Nigeri