UNIPORT JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, ACCOUNTING & FINANCE MANAGEMENT

This study examined the influence of Entrepreneurial financing on the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on microfinance loans. Specifically, the study identified the predominant sources of entrepreneurial financing available to SMEs in Osun State; ascertained the extent to which microfinance loan enhances SMEs’ expansion and the challenges faced by SMEs in accessing microfinance loan in the study area. The study employed a cross section research design. The population of this study included all the registered SMEs with the SMEDAN, out of which a total of 353 SMEs were selected as sample size using sampling technique. Data were collected with the use of questionnaires, and analysed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that personal savings with (43.6%) constituted the predominant source of finance to SMEs operators in the study area, while sources such as crowdfunding, cooperative societies, NGO/Donor-supported financing e.t c financings were rarely or never used by this SMEs.  It was also revealed that microfinance loans have a positive and significant influence on the performance of SMEs in the study area. The study concluded that loans obtainable at reasonable rates are critical to the success of SMEs expansion. Therefore, the study recommended that microfinance banks should review microfinance interest rates to make them more affordable for small businesses.

The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of customer experience on customer patronage of quick restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria. The study employed a survey research design. The research focused on the customers of six (6) quick-service restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria. Convenience sampling was employed in the study. To test all hypotheses, a simple regression model was employed, through the SPSS software version 25.0. The study revealed that food quality positively and significantly affects customer patronage of quick restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria. Frontline functionality exerts positive and significant effect on customer patronage of quick restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria. Lastly, it was found that physical environment exerts positive and significant effect on customer patronage of quick restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria. It was concluded that customer experience exerts significant and positive effect on consumer behaviour of quick restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria. The study recommends that managers of quick restaurants in Abia State of Nigeria should accord service quality a high priority. The restaurants operators can focus on preparing and preserving food made from natural sources and devoid of artificial flavourings to increase brand choice. 

The study investigated the relationship between internal audit quality and value relevance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria for a period (2008 to 2017). The proxies were internal audit quality and value relevance; auditor independence and board of directors’ independence were control variables. Ex-post facto methodology with panel secondary data were extracted from the annual fact-book of 56 sampled out of 65 quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria Stock Exchange. Multivariate regression analysis using E-view 10 statistical version software was carried out on the data collected.  The results showed the following: internal audit quality and value relevance had a positive and significant relationship; board of directors’ independence and auditor independence which were control variables showed a positive and significant relationship. The research concluded as follows: that if internal audit quality increased by a large proportion, value relevance also increased by the same large proportion. It was recommended amongst others that company CEOs, MDs and Human Resource executives should be guided on the hiring of qualified and certified internal audit team/staff. 

The overall objective of this research is to ascertain the moderating banks' specific characteristics on the relationship between audit quality and abnormal audit fee. The study cover a period of twelve years, that is, 2010-2024.This period was chosen because it is s synonymous with audit reforms that originated after the going under of the some big audit firms. Multivariate regression technique will be employed using panel data. The use of panel data in this study will be based on three fundamental justifications a moderator has negative moderating effect on the relationship between abnormal audit fee and audit quality. The results reveals that the board size has a positive relationship audit quality. The effects estimation reveals client risk has a positive moderating influence on the relationship between abnormal fee and audit quality. Additionally, the reveals firm complexity has no significant effect on abnormal audit fee and audit quality. The study first, suggestion for further study is to repeat the study introduce audit  committee variables   as moderator. Second, intending researchers that wish to via into the subject matter in future should focus on the oil and gas sector only. 

Nigeria's tourism and hospitality industry plays a crucial role in its economy, but thriving in this fast-paced and competitive field requires high-performing employees. This research explores how leadership that emphasizes values and a clear future direction affects employee performance in this important sector. We gathered information from 110 employees and managers at different tourism and hospitality companies in Nigeria and analyzed the data using statistical methods. The results showed that visionary leadership, where leaders paint a compelling picture of the future, strongly predicts how well employees perform. In fact, visionary leadership explained a large portion (52.3% to 58.1%) of the difference in employee performance. This suggests that when leaders communicate a strong vision and demonstrate value-driven principles, employees become more skilled at their tasks and provide better service. The study concludes that developing visionary and value-based leaders is essential for maximizing employee potential and gaining a long-term edge in Nigeria's ever-changing tourism and hospitality market.

This study conducted Economic Appraisal of Mango-Guava-Cashew Plantation enterprise in Kogi State Nigeria and determined whether the plantation enterprise generated a positive Net Present Value; an Internal Rate of Return which is greater than the opportunity cost of capital; a Benefit Cost Ratio which is greater than unity; conducted sensitivity analysis on Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return; and determined with Monte Carlo Simulation technique the expected Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return.This study reviewed publications on fruits, (mango, guava and cashew inclusive) and also studies on mango, guava and cashew individually. The data used in this study was secondary data obtained from Fadama III project Implementation Completion Studies carried out in Kogi state. Available data was collated and analyzed using Microsoft Excel spread sheet. The analysis was hinged on the theory of the firm, sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo Simulation technique. The Internal Rate of Return was estimated at 36%; the Net Present Value was estimated at N8,131,328 and the Benefit Cost Ratio was estimated at 25.4. Since the Internal Rate of Return was greater than the hurdle rate of 12%, the estimated Net Present Value was greater than unity and estimated Benefit Cost Ratio was greater than unity, it was concluded that mango-guava-cashew plantation in the Kogi State of Nigeria was profitable and could pay back any loan and leave some surplus for the farmer. The constraints to plantation agriculture in the study area were pests and diseases, inadequate capital, high cost of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and labour respectively, high cost of transportation and lack of access to market. It was recommended that practical steps should be taken to address the problems of land fragmentation. Productivity enhancing support services such as fertilizers, herbicides and chemicals should also be readily available and at affordable prices to farmers. An effective and efficient agricultural extension service scheme should be put in place to avail farmers with the opportunity of managing their small farms more effectively for optimal productivity.

This study investigates the influence of the initiation phase in Catchball Management on process innovation within Seven Up Bottling Company, Benin Plant, Edo State. Using a descriptive survey design, data were collected from 133 employees selected through stratified random sampling. A structured questionnaire utilizing a 5-point Likert scale was employed to measure employees’ perceptions of initiation involvement and its impact on process innovation. The instrument demonstrated strong reliability with a Cronbach alpha of 0.84. Descriptive statistics revealed high levels of employee involvement early in strategic planning (M = 4.21, SD = 0.58), active encouragement of feedback during idea stages (M = 4.10, SD = 0.64), and consideration of suggestions in planning (M = 4.30, SD = 0.52), indicating a robust participatory environment during initiation. Regression analysis confirmed that initiation significantly and positively predicts process innovation (β = 0.69, p < 0.05), with the model explaining 54% of the variance in process innovation outcomes (R² = 0.54, F(1,131) = 58.88, p < 0.001). These results emphasize the critical role of early employee involvement and collaborative dialogue in fostering innovative process improvements that enhance operational efficiency. The study concludes that formalizing the initiation phase within Catchball Management significantly enhances process innovation by fostering employee ownership and creativity. It is recommended that organizations institutionalize participatory planning platforms and train managers in participatory leadership to maximize innovation outcomes and operational efficiency.

The study investigates auditors’ reputation and audit pricing in Nigeria. The study adopts the use of survey research design to investigate how auditors’ reputation impacts audit pricing in Nigeria. Primary data was the method of data collection. The analysis of data collected was conducted using ANOVA with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between auditor’s reputation and audit pricing in Nigeria, such that the t- calculated value of 1.427 > 0.290 was found to be significant. The   correlation statistics (r) of 0. 992 > 0. 805 table value at 5% level of significant, and the p-value 0.004

The study evaluated the perceptions of logistical performance and gender disparities in Lagos FMCG companies. This study adopted a positivist methodological approach, utilizing primary and secondary data. The study involved 305 workers from the chosen companies' supply chain, procurement, logistics, and transportation departments. For the investigation, the total enumeration approach was used. The research tool was a structured questionnaire with closed-ended questions. Cronbach's Alpha was used to evaluate the survey instrument's dependability, and the results varied from 0.925 to 0.950. The Independent T-test was used to analyze the data. The independent T-test was employed to find out how gender affected the opinion of logistics performance in a few chosen consumer goods companies in Lagos. The distribution frequency of items between the sexes [t (292) = -1.96, p >.05] and operational expenses [t (292) = -1.83, p >.05] did not differ statistically significantly, according to the findings. However, there is a statistically significant difference in genders in terms of customer satisfaction [t (292) = -2.01, p

This study examined the impact of board governance characteristics on audit tenure among listed Nigerian firms. Specifically, it investigates how board, audit and firm characteristics influence the duration of auditor engagement. The study used descriptive statistics, and a random-effects generalised least squares (GLS) regression model on 33 nonfinancial firms within a ten-year period (2014-2023) in Nigeria to analyse its data. The results reveal that the Wald chi2 statistic of 21.40, with a p-value of 0.0032, demonstrates that the independent variables collectively have a statistically significant effect on AUDT. When analysed individually, the analysis reveals that AUDS has a significant negative relationship with audit tenure, indicating that larger audit committees are associated with shorter audit tenures. This suggests that larger audit committees may enhance oversight functions, prefer periodic auditor rotation to maintain independence and ensure high audit quality. In contrast, other governance variables, such as BSIZ, BMET frequency, BODI, and BREM, do not have statistically significant effects on AUDT. The findings highlight the crucial role audit committees play in optimising audit tenure and enhancing corporate governance practices. The study recommends strengthening audit committees, adopting and enforcing regular auditor rotation policies, and enhancing board governance practices to improve auditor independence and the overall quality of financial reporting. These recommendations should aim to promote transparency and effectiveness in corporate governance within Nigerian listed firms.

This study investigates the impact of private sector bank credit on Nigerian economic growth for 31 years period, from 1991-2021. The ARDL time series econometric model is used in the analysis with private sector bank credit, prime lending rate, inflation and money supply as explanatory variables and economic growth (GDP) as the dependent variable. The study reveals that the impacts of explanatory variables on economic growth are:  private sector bank credit (significant and negative); prime lending rate (significant and negative); money supply (significant and positive) while inflation rate (insignificant and positive).It recommends that the monetary authorities should efficiently manage the macroeconomy by maintaining the levels of Bank credits to the Private sector, prime lending rates, inflation rates, and money supply such that the productive sectors of the economy are well served to stimulate growth in the country’s economy.

The incessant financial Fraud resulting in corporate collapse and the failure of the statutory audit to detect and prevent fraudulent activities which have led to the impoverishment of investors has given rise to the need for forensic auditors. In view of the above, this paper considers the role of forensic auditor on corporate governance. The study is theoretical research which is considered the roles of forensic auditors in combating fraudulent activities, distinction of forensic auditor and statutory auditor, characteristics of a forensic auditor and impact of forensic auditors on corporate governance. From studies carried out, this paper concludes that forensic auditors having improved management accountability, strengthened external auditor independence and assisting audit committee members in carrying out their oversight functions by providing them assurance on internal audit report have impacted positively on corporate governance thereby reducing corporate failure and impoverishment of investors.

This study explores the effect of audit quality on the financial performance of deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of auditors’ renumeration, audit firm size, bank size and leverage on return on asset of eight internationalized deposit money banks in Nigeria for the period covering from 2011 to 2023. To achieve this, secondary data was used and sourced from the audited financial statements of the sample deposit money banks. To perform the analysis a balanced panel dataset was built, and the empirical model explaining the link between audit quality and financial performance index was estimated using the fixed effects and random effects method. From the Hausman test, the fixed effects method was considered appropriate for estimation and the results of the fixed effects method shows that auditors’ renumeration and bank size had insignificant positive impact on financial performance of the deposit money banks studied. Through the fixed effects method, the study confirmed that audit size had significant positive relationship with financial performance, while an insignificant negative relationship was found between leverage and financial performance of DMBs. The study recommends that, management of deposit money banks should pay prudent fee for audit services such that it does not influence the judgement of the auditors on the financial statements.

The study looked at how effective classroom, management can be used as a tool to boost students’ academic performance in Brass Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa State of Nigeria. The study was guided by six research questions. The study made use of the descriptive survey design. The study’s population was two thousand one hundred and twenty two (2,122) students selected from twelve (12) public secondary school from Brass LGA of Bayelsa State of Nigeria. The simple random sampling technique was used to select two hundred and twenty student who made up the respondents. A research instrument tilted Effective Classroom Management and Students Academic Performance in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State (ECMSAPPSSBLGABS) structured on a four point scale was used to gather information from the respondents. The study was able to find out that effective classroom management strategies like teachers maintaining cordial relationship with their students, teachers using positive reinforcement to encourage students, teachers’ reinforcement of school rules as well as teachers correction of students’ bad behavior enhance students’ academic performance in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State. As such the study recommended that teachers should ensure they build cordial relationship with their students, use positive reinforcement to encourage students, reinforce school rules and correct students’ bad behavior in order to enhance their academic performance in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State.

This study examined the influence of financial leverage and market capitalization on the profitability of listed consumer goods and services firms in Nigeria. Using panel data from 33 firms spanning 2014 to 2023, profitability is measured by return on assets (ROA), while financial leverage is represented by the debt-to-equity ratio (DER), debt-assets ratio (DAR), and long-term debt-to-equity ratio (LTDR). Market capitalization (MC) is also analyzed as a key determinant of profitability. The findings reveal that DER has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on ROA, while DAR and LTDR negatively and significantly impact profitability. Conversely, market capitalization exhibits a strong positive and significant relationship with ROA (17.09% overall statistical significance), suggesting that larger firms enjoy profitability advantages. These results highlight the importance of optimizing leverage, particularly long-term debt, and leveraging the scale advantages of larger firms to sustain profitability. The study provides actionable insights for corporate managers and policymakers to develop strategies that enhance firm performance in the dynamic context of emerging markets.

This study investigated the impact of board governance and leverage structure on the performance of deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria, using Return on Equity (ROE) and Earnings per Share (EPS) as performance indicators. The study focused on the relationship between board characteristics such as board size (BIS), board independence (BID), and leverage structure, represented by the debt-to-total assets ratio (LEV), with firm size as a control variable. The data used in this study were collected from the annual reports of eight Nigerian deposit money banks over the period from 2011 to 2022, producing 96 observations. The analysis was conducted using fixed and random effect models to determine the impact of the independent variables on performance. The findings revealed that board size had a significant and positive influence on EPS, indicating that larger boards contributed to better financial performance due to a diversity of expertise and more effective governance. However, board independence and leverage structure showed no significant impact on EPS. Similarly, board size and board independence demonstrated a positive relationship with ROE, but only board independence had a significant effect on ROE, suggesting that independent directors enhanced firm performance by providing stronger oversight and reducing agency costs. Leverage structure and firm size had positive but statistically insignificant effects on both EPS and ROE, implying that these variables did not play a substantial role in determining the financial performance of the sampled banks. These findings suggested that while board governance factors like board size and independence were important determinants of bank performance, leverage structure did not have a significant influence. The study contributed to the growing literature on corporate governance and its role in enhancing the performance of financial institutions in Nigeria.

The study explored the effects of Financial Technologies Service Delivery (FTSD) Systems on the  Efficiency of Banking operations. The study utilized Survey strategy in gathering data which were empirically estimated using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) denoted by ‘r’. The estimated model exhibited healthy results as the PPMCC or ‘r’ coefficient stood at 0.7835, indicating a strong positive correlation. The magnitude of the computed coefficient signifies that  Fintech  Systems have the potential to predict Efficiency of Banking operations. It demonstrates that as FinTech systems adoption for service delivery increases, it facilitates and amplifies a corresponding increase in efficiency of operations. The value of the Coefficient of determination (r2) stood at 0.6139 which portends that 61.39% of the variation in the Efficency of Banking operations is predicted by FinTech Systems. Based on the forgoing, we therefore conclude that FinTech service systems has substantial leverage on the  Efficiency of banking operations in Nigeria. We thus recommend that it would be necessary for Bank Management teams  to reinforce service delivery systems with modern financial technologies and infrastructures to enhance and sustain banking operations efficiently

This study examines the impact of board characteristics on agency costs within the context of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria, covering the period from 2014 to 2023. The specific focus of this study is to understand how board size, board independence, board gender diversity, and board meeting frequency influence agency costs. This study is hinged on ex- post facto research design, analyzing secondary data sourced from annual financial reports of a population of 21 listed consumer goods firms, but narrowed to a sample of 16 firms selected via purposive sampling technique requiring availability of annual financial report and complete information meant for the analysis. In analyzing the data and testing the hypothesis of this study, robust regression analysis technique was employed due to the presence of heteroscedasticity detected in the ordinary least square regression model. The findings reveal that board size has a statistically significant positive effect on agency costs, indicating that larger boards may lead to inefficiencies in asset utilization, thereby increasing agency costs. In contrast, the variables of board independence and board gender diversity showed insignificant impact on agency costs. However, the frequency of board meetings revealed a significant positive effect on agency costs, implying that while frequent meetings are intended to improve oversight, it may also lead to higher administrative costs and inefficiencies. This study recommends that management of listed consumer goods firms should be conscious of balancing the sizes of its boards and the same applies to meeting frequency to enhance governance effectiveness while minimizing agency costs. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical insights into the dynamics of corporate governance within Nigeria's consumer goods sector. The findings have significant implications for corporate governance reforms aimed at improving firm performance by reducing agency- related inefficiencies.

This study examined the effect of chief executive officers (CEOs) attributes on financial reporting quality of listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria.  Thus, CEO's attributes being the independent variable was decomposed into three (3) sub variables: ownership, gender diversity and nationality, while the dependent variable was financial reporting quality. A combination of a cross-sectional and longitudinal research design was employed, while secondary data covering a period of eight (8) years (2015-2022), were sourced from the audited annual financial reports and accounts of the sampled industrial firms.  The samples of this study consists of all thirteen (13) listed industrial goods companies on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as of 31st December 2022. Furthermore, the panel data regression techniques were employed in conducting the analysis, and the results revealed that a negative and significant relationship exists between CEO's ownership and financial reporting quality of listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria. It was also observed that CEO's gender diversity had a negative and statistically insignificant effect on financial reporting quality of listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria. And finally, the study found a positive and insignificant relationship between CEO's nationality and financial reporting quality of listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria. Consequently, the study recommended among other things that management of listed industrial goods companies, should pay attention to CEO's ownership to further enhance the significant relationship between the ownership attributes and financial reporting quality.