ABSTRACT
There has been celebrated cases of corporate frauds and financial misappropriation in Nigeria’s big corporations. The series of frauds have left a sense of doubt about the “unbiasedness” of external auditors to render an attest function on the credibility of published financial statements. In this light, this research sought to empirically investigate the Independence of auditors and reliability of financial reports in banking industry. The research adopts a survey and a descriptive research design with a well-structured questionnaire. Data were basically sourced through primary means. The population of the study comprise staff of the twenty four (24) commercial banks in Nigeria. Five banks were selected from the twenty four and One hundred (100) respondents were sampled, twenty from each banks. Four hypothesis were formulated and tested with the used of Chi-square analysis. The analysis resulted into rejecting the four null hypotheses and concluding that; there is significant relationship between audit tenure and reliability of auditors’ financial reports; audit firm Competition for service affect reliability of data; auditor-client-relationship affect the reliability of financial report and that there is relationship between audit fee and reliability of auditors’ financial report. Among other recommendations, it was recommended that standards of independence for auditors should be designed to promote an environment in which the auditor is free of any influence, interest or relationship that might impair professional judgment or objectivity.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Statement of Research Hypotheses
1.6 Scope of the Study
1.7 Limitation of the Study
1.8 Significance of the Study
1.9 Research Methodology
1.10 Definition of Key Terms
Chapter Two: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Conceptual Framework
2.3 Theoretical Framework
2.4 Empirical Framework
2.5 Gaps in Literature
Chapter Three: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Population of Study
3.4 Sample Size
3.5 Sampling Technique
3.6 Re-Statement of Research Hypotheses
3.7 Sources of Data Collection
3.8 Instrument of Data Collection
3.9 Validity and Reliability Test
3.10 Methods of Data Analysis
Chapter Four: Data Presentation and Analysis
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Personal Characteristics of the Respondents
4.3 Response of Respondents to the Problem Areas
4.4 Testing And Interpretation of Hypotheses
4.6 Discussion of Results
Chapter Five: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary of Findings
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies
5.5 Contribution to Knowledge
References
Appendix I
Appendix II
