Interplay of Boardroom Integrity, Audit Independence and Earnings of Commercial Banks in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of audit independence and audit committee meetings on the earnings per share (EPS) of commercial banks in Nigeria. Data were collected from 15 commercial banks over the period 2020 to 2023, generating a balanced panel of 60 observations. The study employed panel least squares regression to analyze the relationship between audit committee characteristics and the financial performance of banks, measured by EPS. The results revealed that audit independence had a positive and statistically significant effect on EPS, with a coefficient of 97.25 and a p-value of 0.007, indicating that higher levels of audit independence were associated with improved earnings performance. Conversely, the frequency of audit committee meetings showed a negative but statistically insignificant relationship with EPS, suggesting that merely increasing meeting frequency did not necessarily enhance financial outcomes. The model explained approximately 23% of the variation in EPS, as indicated by the R-squared value of 0.23. These findings showed the critical role of audit committee independence in safeguarding financial integrity and enhancing shareholder value in Nigeria's banking sector. The study recommended that commercial banks focus on strengthening audit independence to boost earnings quality rather than solely increasing the number of audit meetings. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence specific to the Nigerian banking industry, highlighting areas for improving corporate governance and financial performance.

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