AUDITORS’ INDEPENDENCE AND AUDIT DELAY OF LISTED NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2022-08-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The study examines the effect of auditors’ independence on audit delay among the listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The study employs panel research design choosing 45 listed firms by using a purposive sampling technique. The research study covers a period of 2010-2020 resulting in 495 firm-year observations. Ordinary Least Square Method (OLS) is used to analyse the secondary data collected. The result of the study revealed that audit price has significant positive effect on audit delay while auditor’s tenure does not have significant effect on audit delay. The finding shows that payment of higher audit fee and engagement of the big four audit firms increase the audit report lag. In conclusion, auditors’ independence impacts significantly on audit delay of firms in Nigeria. The study therefore, recommends that company’s management and financial regulatory bodies should adopt means of regulating external auditors’ fees as payment of higher fees does not translate to enhanced audit efficiency.