Audit Committee role is very important to the protection of shareholders and other
stakeholders interests. This research study explores the influence of audit committee
effectiveness on firm’s performance using four characteristics: independence, financial
expertise, size, and meetings of the audit committee. The performance measures were Return
on Equity (ROE), Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). Twenty- five
(25) manufacturing firms were selected and from which data were collected for the period
(2004-2011). Empirical analysis was carried out using regression and correlation. The result of
the analysis showed a positive significant relationship between independence and financial
expertise of the audit committee and ROA, ROE and ROCE. However, the size and meetings of
audit committee showed no significant relationship with all performance variables. This study
therefore recommends that the audit committee should be made more effective by ensuring that
members are made up of independent non-executive directors and also ensure that more
members with financial expertise especially accounting expertise be drafted into the audit
committee and lastly ensure that audit committee meetings are tailored towards relevant issues
that enhance the financial performance of the fir
