CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND STOCK PRICE INFORMATIVENESS OF LISTED FIRMS IN NIGERIA

This study examines the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and stock price informativeness among 151 non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) from 2011 to 2025. While extant literature predominantly focuses on developed markets, emerging economies like Nigeria present unique institutional contexts characterized by concentrated ownership structures, regulatory evolution, and information asymmetries that fundamentally alter governance dynamics. Employing firm-specific price synchronicity as our primary measure of stock price informativeness, we analyze how board independence, CEO duality, board size, audit quality, and ownership concentration influence the incorporation of firm-specific information into equity prices. Our panel regression results indicate that board independence and audit quality significantly reduce price synchronicity, thereby enhancing stock price informativeness, whereas CEO duality and concentrated ownership exhibit inverse relationships. Control variables, including firm size, leverage, profitability, and institutional ownership, demonstrate consistent effects with theoretical predictions. The findings survive robustness checks using alternative synchronicity measures and instrumental variable approaches addressing endogeneity concerns. This research contributes to the governance literature by demonstrating that governance reforms in emerging markets yield differential effects compared to developed economies, with implications for policymakers, investors, and corporate boards navigating Nigeria's evolving capital market landscape.