STAKEHOLDERS’ PRESSURE, IT GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENCY OF SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Abstract

Access to information and technology (IT) have evolved over the years which has resulted in increased pressure from stakeholders on businesses to be more transparent in reporting the influence of their actions on the society beyond financial metrics. However, there is lack of beneficial information on sustainability reporting due to lack of transparency in the reporting requirements and application of the reporting requirement. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of stakeholders’ pressure and information technology governance on the transparency of sustainability reporting of listed Nigerian financial services firms. The 49 financial services companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange make up the study's population, and information was gathered from 41 companies' annual reports and sustainability reports. Random effect regression was employed and the results showed that stakeholders' pressure and IT Governance have a positive and significant influence on the transparency of the sustainability reporting of the listed Nigerian financial services firms at 1% and 5% respectively. The study concluded that stakeholders’ pressure and IT governance influence the transparency of sustainability reporting of listed Nigerian financial services firms and therefore recommended that diverse stakeholders’ like consumers, employees, environmental organisations, investors and governments should continue to exert pressure on companies so that they will not relent in reporting the impacts of their activities as it affect different stakeholders. In addition, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) should continue to ensure good corporate governance practices especially as it relates to IT Governance in Nigerian companies.