Corporate Governance and Audit Report Lag in Nigeria
Ilaboya, O. J.; Iyafekhe Christian

Abstract
This study investigates corporate governance in relation to Audit report lag in Nigeria. It specifically examined the effect of board size, board independence, audit firm type, audit committee size and audit committee independence and firm size on audit report lag. The study employed time series and cross sectional survey data covering five year's period (2007-2011). A total of one hundred and twenty (120) listed corporate organisations in the manufacturing sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange constituted the population, from where a sample of 40 firms was drawn. Historical data were sourced from the financial statements and accounts of the sampled firms. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics correlation and Ordinary Least Square, (OLS) regression. We found that board size, audit firm type, firm size had a significant effect while board independence and audit committee size had no significant effect on audit report lag. We recommended that government should make stringent policies and regulations on audit report lag; professional accounting bodies should monitor auditing firms for early completion of any engagement, and good corporate governance practices should be fully implemented in Nigerian organizations in order to reduce incidence of audit report lag.

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