C. A. OKAFOR

This study examined the influence of audit characteristics on the financial reporting quality of deposit money banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange. The main objective was to assess the effects of audit firm tenure, audit firm size, and non-audit services on the credibility and transparency of financial reports. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design and utilized secondary data collected from annual reports of twelve listed banks covering the period 2016 to 2023. The data were analysed using panel regression analysis with robust standard errors to account for heteroskedasticity. The study finds that audit firm tenure has no significant impact on financial reporting quality, indicating that the duration of auditor-client relationships does not independently determine reporting outcomes in the Nigerian banking sector. However, audit firm size showed a significant positive relationship with financial reporting quality, suggesting that larger audit firms contribute to higher transparency and reliability due to their extensive expertise and stronger regulatory oversight. Additionally, non-audit services exhibited a significant positive effect on financial reporting quality, implying that when properly managed, these services can enhance auditors’ operational understanding and improve audit effectiveness rather than compromise independence. The study concludes that audit firm size and non-audit services are critical determinants of financial reporting quality among Nigerian deposit money banks, while audit firm tenure plays a limited role. The study recommends that regulators encourage the use of reputable large audit firms and implement guidelines to manage non-audit services effectively to strengthen overall audit quality and financial transparency in the sector

This study examined the effect of online Value Added Tax (VAT) administration on the performance of e-commerce businesses in Nigeria. The research was anchored on the Optimal Tax Theory, Tax Incidence Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and Laffer
Curve Theory, which collectively explain the relationship between taxation efficiency, compliance behaviour, and digital adoption. The study employed a survey research design and collected data from 384 online business operators across major e-commerce platforms in Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression techniques were used to analyse the data.
The findings revealed that policy clarity, compliance burden, and enforcement intensity significantly influence e-commerce performance. Specifically, policy clarity had a strong positive effect (β = 0.4058, p < 0.001), compliance burden exerted a modest positive effect (β = 0.053, p < 0.05), while enforcement intensity recorded the strongest impact (β = 0.961, p < 0.001). The combined influence of these variables explained about 82% of the variation in e-commerce performance. The study concluded that a transparent, efficient, and technology-driven VAT system enhances compliance and supports digital business growth.
It recommends that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) simplify VAT policies, digitize compliance processes, strengthen enforcement through data-driven monitoring, and promote collaboration between regulators and e-commerce stakeholders to sustain Nigeria’s evolving digital economy.