THE EFFECTS OF UNETHICAL ACCOUNTING PRACTICE ON FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY IN NIGERIA {CASE STUDY: AFRIBANK PLC, CADBURY PLC}

ABSTRACT

The continuing influence and impact which personal and professional ethics exerts upon individuals, organizations and society, and the factors which influence organizational ethics, has been thrust into the headlines of the American populous. The ethical issues faced daily by organizations and their employees are neither always straightforward nor easy to resolve. Results of unethical behaviour by accounting/audit professionals, and the impact of ethics upon organizations, is a topic of growing concern in corporate board rooms around the world. This paper will examine the timely and important ethics and its relevance and importance to overall corporate wellbeing. In particular, what factors influence the likelihood that an individual will act ethically or less than ethical, and what this means to management, the organization, and internal controls in general. This paper is designed to help educate people on unethical accounting practices, why they occur, and how we as a nation can promote ethical behaviour

Abstract This study examined unethical accounting practice and financial reporting quality in Nigeria. Behaving ethically is an essential and expected trait for professional accountants. The society places high premium of trust and expectation from the professional accountants and auditors as such people need to have confidence in the financial reports being prepared/audited by them in making an informed decision. It’s imperative therefore, that the information being provided by accountants and auditors should be meaningfully efficient, reliable, and realistic and are unbiased. An explanatory case study approach was used for the study complemented by archival data, newspaper reports and regulatory report. One of the key issues in our findings is that extended audit tenure could impair auditor’s independence and ability to employ professional skepticism on matters at their disposal. Non adherence to the spirit and letter of corporate governance was also responsible for the corporate scandals. We recommend therefore that the composition of the board of Directors and audit committee members should be made up of people of proven integrity and corporate experience. Also the tenure of external auditors should have a terminal frame and not be too long to as to affect their ethical conduct.