Cooperate Governance and Financial Reporting Quality on Selected Listed Consumer Goods Sector in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This study examined corporate governance and financial reporting quality on selected listed consumer goods sector in Nigeria. The objective of the study was to specifically examine the impact of board size, board independence and frequency of audit committee meetings on financial reporting quality of consumer goods sector. The documentary data was generated from the annual reports and accounts of the five (5) sampled companies. Data will be generated from accounting data and financial statements of selected firms. The study will focus on companies in the consumer goods sectors listed on the Nigeria Exchange Group as of December 2022, with a sample size of five companies selected based on their ranking on the NGX Consumer Goods Index and data availability. The study utilized cross-sectional data extracted from the annual reports and accounts of these consumer goods companies, including Guinness Nigeria PIc, Nigerian Bottling Company, Flour Mills Nigeria PIc, Nigerian Breweies, and Unilever Nigeria Plc. The data were analysed using the pre-regression analyses, including descriptive statistics, tests for normality of residuals, and multicollinearity diagnostics. The findings revealed that board size had a positive insignificant impact on financial reporting quality in Nigeria. Board independence on the other hand, had a positive significant impact on financial reporting quality in Nigeria. The findings further revealed that frequency of audit committee meetings had a positive significant impact on financial reporting quality in Nigeria. Thus, it was recommended that the Securities and Exchange Commission should strengthen the code of corporate governance by advocating an increase in the number of Directors that are independent of the board and also advocating the need for audit committees to increase the frequency of meetings held so as to enhance the quality of financial reports in Nigeria. Though board size had a positive insignificant impact on financial reporting quality in Nigeria, the study recommends that there should be an optimum board size.