EFFECT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE INDEPENDENCE AND GENDER DIVERISTY ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING DISCLOSURE OF QUOTED INDUSTRIAL GOODS COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the effect of audit committee independence and audit committee gender diversity on sustainability reporting disclosure of quoted industrial goods companies in Nigeria. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. Secondary data were collected from the annual reports of all the 13 industrial companies for a period of ten years from 2010 to 2019. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were employed for Data analysis. The result revealed that audit committee independence has positive and significant effect on sustainability reporting disclosure while audit committee gender diversity has insignificant and negative effect on sustainability reporting disclosure of industrial goods companies in Nigeria. Based on the research findings the study recommended that the Nigerian corporate business most especially industrial goods companies should consider increasing the number of independent directors on the board because this will contribute to improving corporate sustainability disclosure and consequently reduce information asymmetry, which not only clarifies the conflicts of interests between shareholders and management but also makes management more accountable.