BOARD ATTRIBUTES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT FRAUD LIKELIHOOD OF QUOTED FIRMS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT
The objective of study was to examine the relationship between board attributes and financial statement fraud likelihood. The broad objective of the study is to examine the impact of board attributes on financial statement fraud likelihood.
The study employed the ex-post facto research design. The study utilizes nineteen (19) companies listed on the Food and Beverage sector quoted in the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The secondary data were extracted from the annual reports of the selected firms for the period 2012-2018. The usual research language of regression assumption tests were effected to ensure the accuracy of the regression model.
The findings of the study reveals that the impacts of board size, board independence, board diversity and board remuneration on financial statement fraud likelihood are negative which implies that changes in board size, board independence, board diversity and board remuneration will reduce the odds of financial statement fraud detection. The study recommends for the managerial remuneration to be looked into within a broader picture of corporate mechanism to curtail fraud occurrence. The corporate boards should look into the gender mix more critically. The study also, recommends the need for effective corporate governance monitoring across the firm