THE IMPACT OF AUDIT QUALITY ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF LISTED INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian insurance industry faces persistent challenges including financial mismanagement, weak regulatory compliance, inconsistent audit practices, and declining public trust. These issues have impaired financial transparency and undermined performance metrics such as Return on Assets (ROA). In response, this study examined the impact of audit quality on the performance of listed insurance companies in Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: (i) examine the relationship between audit committee independence and ROA; (ii) investigate the impact of audit fees on ROA; and (iii) determine the influence of audit tenure on ROA. The study employed an ex-post facto research design using secondary data collected from the audited annual reports of five purposively selected insurance firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group between 2010 and 2023. Data analysis was conducted using panel regression models. Findings revealed that audit independence Committee had a significant positive effect on ROA (R= -0.512, p = 0.007), audit fees had a significant positive effect (R = 0.549, p = 0.004), while audit tenure showed a positive insignificant effect (R = -0.381, p = 0.183). The study concludes that audit firm size and fees are key determinants of performance, whereas audit tenure has limited influence. It recommends strengthening audit practices through appropriate auditor selection and fair audit compensation.