EFFECT OF AUDIT ATTRIBUTES ON AUDIT REPORT LAG OF LISTED NONFINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the effect of audit attributes on audit report lag of listed non-financial services
companies in Nigeria from 2012-2021. Specific audit attributes are audit quality, audit committee
size, audit tenure, audit service and audit fee. The study adopts an ex-post facto research design. The
population of the study consists of one hundred and twelve companies whose shares were listed
on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as of 31st December 2021. Data were collected through
secondary sources. Data generated from the annual reports and accounts were analyzed using
descriptive statistics and Poison regression. The finding revealed that audit quality and audit
service have a negative effect on audit report lag while audit committee size and audit fee have a
positive significant effect on audit report lag. On the other hand, audit tenure has a negative
insignificant effect on the audit report lag of listed non-financial services companies in Nigeria. The
study recommends that non-financial companies should engage more Big 4 audit firms in
commensurate to their capacity because Big 4 audit firms have the capacity to audit their annual
report within the shortest possible period of time.