EFFECT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE CHARACTERISTICS ON AUDIT QUALITY OF QUOTED INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examines the effect of audit committee characteristics on audit quality on audit quality of quoted insurance companies in Nigeria. Using an ex-post facto research design and a purposive sample technique, it examines 15 out of 21 quoted insurance companies from 2016 to 2025. The study used STATA 17 logistic regression to examine data collected from the Nigerian Exchange Group. The result revealed audit committee size has a positive and insignificant effect on audit quality. Audit committee independence, audit committee gender diversity, and audit committee meetings do not exert statistically significant effects on audit quality. The study concludes that audit committee characteristics (meeting, independence, size, meeting frequency) have no significant effects on audit quality but plays an important role in the audit quality of quoted insurance companies in Nigeria. The study recommends among others that management should ensure that committee membership size should be maintained at the statutory six members unless the complexity of the company's operations justifies otherwise.