Joint Provision of Audit and Non-Audit Services in Nigeria: An Empirical Study

What the paper says

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the perceptions of Nigerian professional accountants on the issue whether the joint provision of audit and Non-Audit Services (NAS) does in fact impair the independence of the Nigerian auditor and, if so, what regulatory option/s could safeguard his independence. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 120 professional accountants. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, while t-test and ANOVA were used to determine whether there are any significant differences in the perception of the problem according to gender, job type and post-qualification experience. The findings suggest that professional accountants are of the opinion that provision of NAS to audit clients does impair the independence of the auditor. Beyond that, however, they prefer selective prohibition of NAS to audit clients on the basis of the nature of work. This study has practical implications for the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission that is yet to legislate on joint provision of audit and NAS to audit clients of Nigerian listed companies. For the Central Bank of Nigeria, this study provides evidence that its barring of Nigerian auditors from providing some NAS to its bank clients was in the right direction. Going beyond merely ascertaining whether the joint provision of audit and NAS impairs the independence of the Nigerian auditors, the paper finds out some of the significant reasons for the respondents’ opinion and their preferred solution to the problem. Perhaps, this is the first time a Nigerian study has gone this far, thus making invaluable contribution to the scanty literature in this area in Nigeria.