THE IMPACT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

SUMMARY

This study investigates how the audit committee affects the financial performance of Nigerian deposit money institutions. The study attempted to provide empirical evidence of this effect in the context of Nigeria. The study's findings revealed a significant positive association between audit committee financial performance metrics. The control variables audit committee independence and audit committee meetings were shown to be positively connected with financial performance, with the exception of audit committee size and audit committee financial expertise, which were found to be inversely correlated with financial success. The findings imply significant ramifications for Nigerian practitioners and policymakers. One significant and crucial result is that the frequency of audit committee meetings and the financial performance of deposit money institutions are greatly influenced by the financial expertise of audit committee members. As a result, Nigeria must make the requirement that audit committee members have financial competence mandatory under the Company and Allied Matters Act (2014), especially when new members are being considered. Furthermore, it is recommended that the names and biographical information of audit committee members with the relevant expertise and skills be required to be included in deposit money institutions' annual financial reports. Furthermore, the frequency of audit committee meetings should be increased to ensure that adequate time is spent to critical and relevant issues pertaining to each deposit money bank.