EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FIRM ATTRIBUTES AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE IN NIGERIA'S OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

This paper examined the effect of firm attributes on environmental disclosure of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria from 2017 to 2021. The paper used firm size, firm age and firm financial performance as (firm attributes) independent variables and environmental disclosure index as dependent variable. The paper adopted the ex-post facto design to achieve its objectives. Secondary data was sourced from audited annual reports of the ten (10) sampled oil and gas firms through content analysis. Panel data regression techniques were carried out and the results reveal that firm size has a significant effect on environmental disclosure of the sampled firms. Also, the result show that, firm age has a significant effect on environmental disclosure. The result further reveals that firm financial performance has a significant effect on environmental disclosure of the sampled firms. Based on the findings, the paper recommends that listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria should put measures in place to increase their profitability as they age and grow so as to enable them accommodate the expenses associated with disclosing information about their efforts in preserving the environment as this will help them to acquire legitimacy status from stakeholders. Also, financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other financial regulatory bodies should hasten their efforts in making environmental disclosure mandatory so as to track firms’ commitments towards preserving the environment.