Monitoring good corporate governance in developing countries: Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

The call for good corporate governance was as a result of the scandal and collapse of high profile companies such as Enron and the Mirror Group News International in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. The collapses brought to the fore, the ills in the management of these companies. In Nigeria, the scandal in some sure-bet banks, Cadbury Nigeria and even the Nigerian Stock Exchange highlighted the failure in the internal control of companies to curb or restrain the excesses of management. This paper sought to monitor the development of good corporate governance globally and in Nigeria bearing in mind Nigeria’s domestic institutional and cultural systems. The paper made recommendations that involve the participation of stakeholders in a company such as boards’ independence, board appraisal, shareholder’s activism and a review of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 for more stringent penalties against directors. This paper made use of legislation, regulations (Codes of best practices) and literature of writers in textbooks and published articles to find recommendations to promote good corporate governance in Nigeria in the midst of Nigeria’s weak institutions.

Key words: Good Corporate Governance; International Corporate Governance; Nigeria, and Public Companies.