Corporate Governance and Creative Accounting Practice in Nigeria

Abstract

The work is a content/exploratory review of literature on corporate governance and accounting practices that contributed to various forms of corporate scandals that occurred worldwide. The key provisions of the code of corporate governance in Nigeria issued by SEC in 2011 to address corporate governance problem is also examined with a view to identifying some other variables critical to transparency in financial reporting that are not specifically stated in the code. Drawing from existing studies, it was discovered that good corporate governance also thrives in some other transparency variables not specifically mentioned in the code. The study, therefore, recommends some measures, among which is the use of simple language as opposed to technical terms in financial reports of companies. This is necessary for understandability and transparency. Transparency is a key variable in corporate governance.