This study investigated the influence of corporate governance on profitability of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The ex post facto research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was made up of the twelve (12) oil and gas companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange between 2010 and 2018. Ten (10) listed oil and gas companies in Nigeria constituted the sample size for this study. Data required for the study were extracted from the audited financial statements of the quoted oil and gas companies that constituted the sample of this study and analysis of data was carried out using descriptive statistics. Multiple regression and correlation statistics were used in testing the hypothesis postulated. The investigation revealed that a significant positive linear relationship exists between corporate governance and profitability of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria and that board independence, board size and board meetings accounts for 3.2 percent, 21.9 percent and 2.8 percent respectively of the profitability of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The results of the study further revealed that audit committee independence, audit committee meetings and audit committee competence accounts for 1.6 percent, 6.8 percent and 14.3 percent respectively of the profitability of quoted oil and gas companies while external auditor independence, shareholders’ involvement and ownership concentration accounts for 1.2 percent, 23.6 percent and 0.2 percent respectively of the profitability of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it is concluded that corporate governance has a moderate influence (52.3 percent) on profitability of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria. One of the recommendations made was that quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria should continually appraise their corporate governance system with a view to determine whether the system is functioning as expected so that corrective actions can be taken to address any deficiency in the system and such appraisal should be done annually.
Keywords: Board Of Directors, Corporate Governance, Corporate Governance Mechanisms, Net Profit Margin, Profitability
