Corporate Governance and Audit Fee Determination in Nigeria

The objecth·e of this study is to examine the effects of corporate governance variables on audit fee in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examines if board size. board independence, board diligence, board expertise, and audit committee independence exert a sign!ficant effect on audit fees in Nigeria. The population of the study covers all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from 2007- 2011. The study used seconda1J' data obtained from the published annual accounts and reports of one hundred and.fifty three (1 53) companies from d!fferent sectors qf companies quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange.fi-om 2007-2011. The cluster and simple random sampling technique was used in the selection of companies .fi'om the population. The multiple regression analysis was conducted using Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS) and the panel Estimated Generalized Least Squares (EGLS). The results showed that board diligence, board expertise, board size, board independence and audit committee independence all have a positive and significant impact on audit fee. It is recommended that auditors should have a better understanding of these factors and their relative importance and how the factors might be built into an auditfee mode