Audit Committee Characteristics and Firm Financial Performance in Nigeria: An Empirical Analysis

Audit Committee role is very important to the protection of shareholders and other stakeholders interests. This research study explores the influence of audit committee effectiveness on firm’s performance using four characteristics: independence, financial expertise, size, and meetings of the audit committee. The performance measures were Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). Twenty- five (25) manufacturing firms were selected and from which data were collected for the period (2004-2011). Empirical analysis was carried out using regression and correlation. The result of the analysis showed a positive significant relationship between independence and financial expertise of the audit committee and ROA, ROE and ROCE. However, the size and meetings of audit committee showed no significant relationship with all performance variables. This study therefore recommends that the audit committee should be made more effective by ensuring that members are made up of independent non-executive directors and also ensure that more members with financial expertise especially accounting expertise be drafted into the audit committee and lastly ensure that audit committee meetings are tailored towards relevant issues that enhance the financial performance of the firm.