AUDIT QUALITY AND FINANCIAL REPORTING TIMELINESS OF QUOTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT Banks in Nigeria are subject to various audit processes aimed at ensuring the accuracy and reliability of their financial statements. However, concerns persist regarding the quality of these audits, encompassing issues such as auditor independence and the effectiveness of internal control assessments. This study examined the audit quality and financial reporting timeliness of quoted deposit money banks in Nigeria. The population comprises all the 10 deposit money banks quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Group as of December 31, 2022 and filtering criteria was used to arrive at nine (9) sampled firms covering the periods of 2012 to 2022. The data were analysed using Descriptive Statistics, Pearson Correlation, Shapiro-Wilk Normality Test, Variance Inflator Factor, Heteroscedasticity test, Breusch-Pagan Lagrangian Multiplier test, Hausman specification test and Robust Random Effect Model. It was revealed that audit tenure has a significant negative effect on financial reporting lag of quoted deposit money banks in Nigeria. However, the study also revealed that audit fee has an insignificant positive effect on financial reporting lag of quoted deposit money banks in Nigeria while audit firm size has an insignificant negative effect on financial reporting lag of quoted deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study recommends among others, that deposit money banks in Nigeria should hire more of big-four audit firms to audit their financial statements, to increase the timely release of their audit reports and enhance financial reporting quality. Also, the deposit money banks in Nigeria should give a long audit tenure to their external auditor to enhance the timely release of their audit reports and enhance financial reporting quality.

0 19 May, 2026

pg: 12

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