Abstract

Corporate Governance is an area that has gained increased interest from academic and policy makers around the world in the past two decades, spurred by major corporate scandals and governance problems in a host country consisting of scandals from both developed and developing countries. Research has revealed that governance problem is particularly pronounced in many emerging economies where family control is the predominant form of corporate ownership and where minority rights are often not enforced. Based on our review of related literature, we conclude that adherence to code of corporate governance by directors of Nigerian Banks determines the country’s competitive positions. The directors must be free to drive their institutions forward, but must exercise that freedom within a framework of transparency and effective accountability. We thus recommend amongst others that regulatory agencies should be more active to enforce compliance, and impose sanctions where and when necessary.