EFFECT OF EXTERNAL AUDIT OPINION ON RETURN ON ASSET OF SELECTED FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN NIGERIA

External audit has become a fundamental area of audit research in recent times especially after the classical cases of audit failure experiences in major corporations. Audit  of  Medium  Enterprises  have  proven  to  be  among  the  most worrisome  for  professional  accountants  because  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  internal  controls as argued. This study the effect of external audit opinion on return on asset of selected food and beverage manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was employed for this study. The population of the study consists of fourteen (14) listed food and beverage registered and quoted on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as at May, 2023. A purposive sampling technic was adopted to select seven (7) out of the fourteen (14) listed food and beverage companies on the Nigerian Exchange Group archives for the period of 2009-2023. Inferential statistics such as Panel regression analysis was adopted to analyse the extent to which external audit opinion influence return on asset of selected food and beverage manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Findings from the result of panel regression on the extent to which external audit opinion influence return on asset of selected food and beverage manufacturing firms in Nigeria showed that three (3) out of the four (4) expiatory variable were significant in explaining the variation of profitability. These variables are eternal audit opinion (0.0913), regulatory oversight (0.0143) and eternal audit experience (0.0294) y. The study revealed that there is significant relationship between external audit opinion and return on asset of selected food and beverage manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that manufacturing firms should prioritize maintaining the independence of their external auditors. This can be achieved by implementing strict internal policies that limit the influence of management on audit processes