Effect of Audit Committee Attributes on the Quality of Financial Reporting

This study examines the effect of audit committee characteristics on the quality of financial reporting among publicly listed non-financial firms in Nigeria., the study investigates the relationship between audit committee attributes, expertise, gender diversity, overlapping membership, tenure, and meeting frequency, and financial reporting quality. The research adopts an ex post facto design. The study used 133 firm-year observations of 19 consumer goods companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) obtained from annual reports for the period 2018 to 2024. Panel data regression techniques were employed to determine the direction and significance of the relationships between the variables. The empirical findings reveal that audit committee expertise exerts a positive and significant influence on financial reporting quality, highlighting the importance of financial and accounting competence in improving transparency and reliability of financial disclosures. Conversely, overlapping membership within audit committees shows a negative and significant effect, indicating that multiple board responsibilities may compromise independence and focus. Gender diversity, tenure, and meeting frequency were found to have insignificant relationships with financial reporting quality. Based on these results, the study recommends that firms should strengthen audit committee effectiveness by appointing members with strong accounting and financial backgrounds and limiting overlapping committee memberships to maintain independence and oversight quality. Furthermore, regulators such as the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should enforce qualification standards and continuous professional development for audit committee members to enhance the integrity of corporate financial reporting in Nigeria.