AUDIT COMMITTEE ATTRIBUTES AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF LISTED CONGLOMERATE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT In recent times, audit committee attributes has been deemed as one of the most vital subcomponents of the board given its specific role in protecting shareholders’ interests in relation to their financial oversight and controls. opined that the roles of the audit committee are to supervise firms’ financial reporting system, internal control, audit process as well as risk management practices is so for Nigerian firms’ audit committees, which duties have developed after the adoption of diverse corporate governance codes. Similarly, the roles of the audit committee has evolved and progressively been re-defined from a voluntary monitoring mechanism to a committee which aims at enhancing the flow of quality information from management to shareholders of the firm. asserted that the search for mechanisms to ensure enhanced firm value has largely focused on audit committee structure whose role is to oversee financial reporting process and audit of financial statements. The audit committee embodies a standing committee of board of directors, charged with the responsibility of dealing with audit-related matters; audit committee acts as liaison between the auditor and board of directors and its activities encompassed the review of nominations of auditors, scope of audit, results of audit, internal financial control, corporate gate-keeping among others. The existence of an audit committee is envisaged to be beneficial to internal and external auditors since they improved quality of audit functions. Establishment of statutory audit committee was necessitated by the corporate governance