Board Characteristics and Environmental Disclosure Quality of Quoted Oil and Gas Firms in Nigeria

This paper has investigated how board attributes affect the quality of environmental disclosure by Nigerian oil and gas companies during 2014-2023. Using the methods of panel regression and with the Hausman test as a guide, the Random-Effects model was established as the best estimator. The data analysis confirms that board size positively influences environmental disclosure, statistically significant, which requires larger boards to improve transparency due to various expertise and accountability pressures. On the contrary, the independence of the boards, how frequently the boards meet, and the extent of executives domination do not show any meaningful relationships with disclosure quality, implying that these governance provisions are not as effective in Nigerian environment. Generally, the evidence suggests that some governance features have a positive impact on disclosure but others are more symbolic and do not provide substantive improvements to environmental reporting, and thus represent institutional and regulatory weaknesses that limit the usefulness of independence and diligence in the formation of sustainability practices. The researchers recommend that environmental disclosure standards must be formally integrated into the corporate governance codes, with a sanction measure to enforce non-compliance, and thus forcing firms to reinforce their system of governance to uphold reporting expectations.