Abstract:

This study tests mechanisms of corporate governance that influence the financial performance of listed oil and gas organizations in Nigeria, such as board composition, nomination and remuneration committee, size of the board, and size of the committee for audit. The study covers a seven-year period, from 2012 to 2018. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for this study which investigates relational effect, secondary data was collected from the yearly reports of the firms studied. The study population were the 11 Oil and Gas companies listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchanges as at December 31, 2018 as reported in the NSE fact sheet of 2018. Panel multiple regression technique, root analysis and fixed effects estimations were used in the analysis of data.  Results indicate that board size and nomination and remuneration committee have no positive major impact on financial performance while the composition of the organization’s board in terms of executive and non-executive directors as well as audit committee size have significant positive influence on the oil companies’ financial performance. The study recommends that capability of board members to do periodic monitoring of members is essential while SEC should place emphasis on decision making instead of the board size. Also, a greater number of external personnel should be included in the composition of the board of directors and the auditing committee.