Moderating Role of Leadership Quality and Consistency on Internal Control Effectiveness and Firm Value Creation in Nigeria

This study investigated internal control effectiveness on value creation of listed firms in Nigeria and the moderating influence of leadership consistency and quality. The specific objectives were to investigate the relationship between control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication and monitoring on value creation with the moderating role of leadership consistency and quality on the relationship between internal control effectiveness and value creation of listed firms in Nigeria. The study anchored on stakeholder theory and quantitative research design was used with data collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data consisted of structured questionnaire from a sample of 546 respondents of listed firms in Nigeria. Data collected from the respective respondents were analysed by applying structural equation model. The study shows that there is a positive and insignificant relationship between internal control effectiveness (control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication and monitoring) on value creation. The finding also showed that leadership consistency and quality moderates positive and significant association between internal control effectiveness and value creation of listed firms in Nigeria. From the findings of this study, we concluded that leadership consistency and quality positively and significantly influence value creation of firms in Nigeria. We recommended amongst others that firms listed on the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX) should improve on internal control practices by optimizing internal structure and improve the communication between various departments through the cultivation of corporate culture and the institutionalization of realistic incentive schemes that contributes to the advancement of corporate development and constantly increasing the value of the firm.