The nexus between audit committee and audit fees

There has been a rise in the number of scholars, regulators, academics, practitioners, policy-makers, and shareholders who see empowering the audit committee as a key strategy for enhancing the reliability of financial reporting and advancing the quality of audits. The purpose of this study is to investigate the connection between audit committee traits and audit fees paid to auditors in Nigeria from 2012 to 2021. We demonstrate, using data from 105 companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group trading floor, that audit committee characteristics (size, meetings, and the presence of at least one member with previous experience in a similar position) are positively correlated with audit fees. Furthermore, we discover that the size of audit committees is positively correlated with audit fees, suggesting that the potential of assigning new roles to audit committees has not been fully realized, as scholars have pointed out. Last but not least, we provide evidence that audit committees with a high percentage of members with prior experience in audit committees may be less willing to allow a disproportionate provision of non-audit services in relation to total fees. Researchers interested in corporate governance, auditors, boards, and policymakers in Nigeria can benefit from our study