Whistleblowing framework and financial statement fraud: empirical evidence

Olayinka Erin, Oluwafunmilayo Ajibola and Olajide Dahunsi

Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2026, vol. 16, issue 1, 54-79

Abstract: Whistleblowing activities have increased globally due to corporate fraud in recent times. The study examined the impact of whistleblowing framework on financial statement fraud of listed firms in Nigeria. We adopted the following to measure whistleblowing framework: size of audit committee, independence of audit committee, risk committee independence, size of external audit, international ownership and firm size. In the same vein, financial statement fraud was measured through Beneish M-score model, taking into consideration the eight parameters of the model. We analysed the data using weighted exogenous sample maximum likelihood (WESML), content analysis and fixed effect regression model. The findings reveal that most Nigerian listed firms have increased the pace toward transparent disclosure of whistleblowing practices which has significant effect on financial statement fraud. These empirical findings place a new direction for inclusive corporate disclosure of whistleblowing in Nigeria, and also for best practices in emerging economies.

Keywords: Beneish M-score; financial statement fraud; legitimacy theory; Nigerian listed firms; whistleblowing framework; whistleblowing index; WBI. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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