Board Independence or Board Gender Diversity: Which Matters More for ESG Disclosure Quality in Nigeria?

The quality of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures has emerged as a central concern for regulators, investors, and civil society actors operating in emerging market economies. Yet the corporate governance mechanisms that drive disclosure quality in such contexts remain contested. This study examines whether board independence or board gender diversity is a more significant determinant of ESG disclosure quality among listed firms in Nigeria, using an unbalanced panel dataset of 148 firms quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) covering the period 2011 to 2025. Grounded in agency theory, resource dependence theory, and the tokenism thesis, and estimated via fixed-effects and random-effects panel regression models with appropriate post-estimation diagnostics, the study finds that board independence exerts a statistically significant and positive effect on ESG disclosure quality, while board gender diversity, though directionally consistent with theoretical expectations, yields results that are sensitive to the proportional representation of women on boards. Control variables, including firm size, return on assets (ROA), leverage, board size, Big 4 auditor affiliation, industry dummies, and year dummies, are incorporated and produce findings that are broadly consistent with prior literature. The study contributes to the thin but growing body of evidence on ESG governance in sub-Saharan Africa and offers actionable policy recommendations for regulators and corporate boards in Nigeria and comparable frontier markets.