Environmental disclosure in Nigerian quoted companies: the longitudinal study

The purpose of the study is to provide a detailed description of the length Nigerian companies disclose environmental information. The research design adopted by this study is basically descriptive. The study utilised an unbalanced panel data structure of 142 sampled companies for a five year period (2009-2013). The study followed a checklist to identify the sentences related to environmental information from the annual reports with the aid of content analysis. The study found that the length of disclosure of environmental information is approximately three sentences per company which is very low, especially in comparison with other developed and developing countries. It was also found that following the events that led to the revision of the code of corporate governance that occurred in 2011, there was a steady increase in the quantity disclosed over time. The reality of the enormity of environmental concerns, threatening the sustainability of the environment for the use of the present and future generations is a wakeup call for all stakeholders most especially management to consider such issues in carrying out the running of the organisation. The novelty of this paper is that it extends the literature on environmental disclosure by providing a vivid description of the quantity of environmental information disclosed by companies in Nigeria, revealing the trend over a time period that witnessed a revision in the code of corporate governance for companies