Earnings Management and Corporate Governance. An Investigation ofFinancial Statement Reporting of Publicly Listed Companies in Nigeria

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: Great Distinction, UGSM-Monarch Business School Switzerland (Accounting and Finance), course: Doctor of Philosophy in Finance, language: English, abstract: The dissertation examined Earnings Management and Corporate Governance Governance Practices of the firms that are listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The researcher investigated the published financial statements of all the listed companies across all the sectors of the exchange using empirical quantitative research methods. Al the variables of earnings management were extracted from the published annual financial statements and Directors Annual Reports through Content Analysis. The paper further explored all the variables of corporate governance as published by the Directors in the Annual Reports in the Financial Statements and through a face to face recorded interviews of the members of the Board of Directors, the members of the Audit Committees and the Heads of Internal Audit Functions in the Listed Public Companies. The study documented that companies that are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange are involved in both the upward and downward earnings management practices. This findings cut across all the Sectors and categorization of the companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The research thus recommended the need for better oversight by the Board of Directors, the Audit Committee and the Market Regulators mainly the Security and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The findings of the Research on Corporate Governance is mixed. In certain sectors, evidence of strong corporate governance are documented as reflected in the quality of Board Members, the Quality of the deliberations at the Board meetings, the independence of the Board, the independence of the Audit Committee and the independence and effectiveness of the Head of the Internal Audit function measured by the reporting line of the holder of this role. In some sectors, the ingredients of strong corporate governance were missing thus suggesting a need for a more stricter regime of corporate governance to be implemented in these corporations.

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Dr. Ademola Akinteye is a finance expertise covers Forensic Accounting, Corporate Governance, Financial Reporting Quality, Risk Management, Strategic Management , Revenue Assurance and Corporate Strategy. Dr. Akinteye is also a power sector expert with previous consulting and training experiences across various African countries in the areas of Power Purchase Agreements, Financing the Power Sector in Africa, Financial Modeling for the Power Sector and Revenue Assurance for the Power Sector. Ademola had at various times served as an Assistant Vice President with FCMB Plc, Senior Manager with Wema Bank, Head of Financial Institutions sales with Glo Mobile and as international executive consultant and trainer with Clarion Call, UK and Spintelligent, S.A. Dr. Akinteye holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Finance from Monarch Business School in Switzerland, M.Phil. in Finance with Great Distinction from UGSM-Monarch Business School Switzerland, MBA (Wealth Management) from Manchester University, UK and BSc. in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, UK Professionally, Ademola is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), Certified Forensic Investigation Professional (CFIP) by IICFIP Inc, USA, Associate, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (ACII), Associate, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK (ACIArb), Associate, Institute of Environmental Accountants of Nigeria (AIEA) and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School USA, Stanford Business School USA, IMD Lausanne Switzerland, Manchester University, UK, Oxford Brookes University, UK, Monarch University Switzerland and a Fellow of Wharton Business School, university of Pennsylvania, USA