Internal corporate governance mechanism and environmental disclosure of listed oil and gas companies in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined internal corporate governance mechanism and environmental disclosure of some listed oil companies in Nigeria. Current corporate governance codes in Nigeria affect corporations in the extractives sectors and isolation from other potential explanations for forest loss beyond oil activities. This study adopted ex-post facto research design and data were generated from the seven (7) selected oil and gas companies that was quoted on the Nigerian exchange group for the period of ten (10) years 2013 to 2022. Internal corporate governance mechanism was measures in board size (BSZ), board independence (BIN), and foreign directors (FRD), while environmental disclosure index was used as measure for environmental disclosure (EVD). The panel regression technique and specifically random effects were used for data analysis with the aid of STATA version 14. The results of the study revealed that board size, board independence and foreign directors have a significant positive impact on disclosure of selected oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The study concludes that internal corporate governance mechanism has significant impact on environmental disclosure of selected oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The study recommended that oil companies want to improve environmental disclosure to enjoy the benefits of adhere to corporate governance codes regulations should pay attention on internal corporate governance mechanism (board independence, board size and foreign directors) for credible information reporting.