Board Attributes and Financial Reporting Quality of Listed oil and gas Firms in Nigeria

This study examined whether specific board attributes are systematically associated with financial reporting quality (FRQ) in Nigerian-listed oil and gas firms over 13 years (2012–2024). FRQ was proxied by discretionary accruals estimated using a performance-matched approach, and governance mechanisms were captured through board size, board independence, board industry expertise, board activity (meeting frequency), and audit committee size, with firm size included as a control. Guided by Agency Theory and Resource-Dependence Theory, the analysis employed multivariate panel techniques suitable for firm-level data observed across time, with standard controls for scale effects and unobserved heterogeneity. The results indicate that board independence, board industry expertise, and audit committee size are each negatively and significantly associated with discretionary accruals, consistent with enhanced monitoring incentives, superior domain knowledge, and greater audit committee capacity improving reporting outcomes. Firm size is also negatively and significantly related to discretionary accruals, suggesting stronger information environments and internal controls in larger issuers. By contrast, board size and board meeting frequency are statistically insignificant after accounting for other governance attributes and controls, implying that headcount and raw meeting tallies are weak stand-alone proxies for effective oversight. The study recommends, among others, that Oil and Gas firms should embed independence first in nomination policies; adopt rigorous conflict-of-interest and tenure-refresh practices; periodically rotate committee membership to sustain challenge. It is also recommended that oil and gas firms in Nigeria should recruit and retain industry/financial experts on their boards.