EFFECT OF BOARD CHARACTERISTICS ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

Banking crises of the past have raised concerns regarding the financial performance of deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria, especially when it comes to the aspect of poor corporate governance. This paper examined how board characteristics influence the financial performance of these banks. Particularly, the paper focuses on the research investigation of the impact of board size, board independence, gender diversity of board members, and the rate of board meetings on financial performance, as reflected by Return on Equity (ROE). The study makes use of the secondary data of 10 chosen banks in the years between 2015 and 2025 in order to apply a quantitative research method, through which the study uses the E-VIEW 9.0 software to conduct descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, and a multiple regression analysis. The results found that board size, board independence and board gender diversity have positive impacts on financial performance, implying that more diverse boards that have independence will give positive contributions to better decision-making and performance. Nevertheless, the negative correlation between the frequency of the board meetings and financial performance is also revealed in the study, suggesting that the increased frequency of the meetings cannot always result in the improvement of performance, and this may be a symptom of inefficient governance. It is the recommendation of the study that banks in Nigeria concentrate on optimizing the board size, having adequate diversification and independence in their boards and gender diversity on the board. Moreover, the study recommends that banks need to focus on the quality of board meetings rather than their frequency so that the meetings are properly structured and more strategically oriented. Such actions would help in enhancing corporate governance and financial performance of the Nigerian DMBs.

0 18 Aug, 2026

pg: 17

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