BOARD ATTRIBUTES AND AUDIT REPORT LAG OF QUOTED INDUSTRIAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic truncated the audit process in the developed and developing countries like Nigeria, the corporate reporting rules in Nigeria were relaxed in other to curb the spread of the virus which made it impossible for audit clients to gather the relevant data to prepare the financial report. The study investigated the board attributes and timeliness of financial reporting of quoted industrial firms on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Market. The data was gathered from the NSE factbook and published financial reports of the listed firm covering (2012-2018). The data were analyzed using the Descriptive statistics, Correlation matrix, Panel regression, and the Hausman test. Our study found that Board independence, Board ownership, and Board size has a positive relationship and statistically insignificant while the Board meeting has a negative and insignificant impact on ARL. Therefore, the proceeding recommended that the board size of industrial firms should not be large for effective communication and oversight function.