Hassan, IbrahimMusa, Adeiza Farouk2023-12-102023-12-102014-11-06Adams, R., Mehran, H. (2008), “Corporate Performance, Board Structure, and their Determinants in the Banking Industry.” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, No. 330. Baysinger, B. D. & Hoskisson, R. E. (1990). “The composition of boards of directors and strategic control: Effects on corporate strategy”, Academy of Management Review, 15(1), 72-87. Baysinger, B. D., Kosnik, R. D. & Turk, T. A.(1991). “Effects of board and ownership structure on corporate R&D strategy,” Academy of Management Journal, 34(1), 205- 214. Bhagat, S. & Black, B. (2001). “The Non-Correlation between Board Independence and Long Term Firm Performance,” Journal of Corporation Law, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 231-274. Bhagat, S. & B. Black. (1999). “The Uncertain Relationship between Board Composition and Firm Performance,” Business Lawyer, 54: 921-63. Boyd, B. K. (1995) Board control and CEO compensation,” Strategic Management Journal, 15,335-344. Bozeman, B. & Daniel S. (2005). “Public Failure in Science Policy,” Science and Public Policy, 18(2), 121-134. Byrne, J. A. (1996, November 25). “The National Association of Corporate Directors’ New Guidelines Won’t Tolerate Inattentive, Passive, Uninformed Board Members,” Business Week. New York. Carcello, J. V., Hermanson, D. R., Neal, T. L., & Riley, Jr., R. A. (2002). “Corporate Board Characteristics and Audit Fees,” Contemporary Accounting Research, 19(3), 365- 384. Chaganti, R. S., Mahajan, V., & Sharma, S. (1985). “Corporate Board Size, Composition and Coiporate Failures in Retailing Industry,” Journal of Management Studies, 22(4), 400 -417. Chan, K.C., Li, J. (2008), “Audit Committee and Firm Value: Evidence on Outside Top Executives as Expert Independent Directors,” Corporate Governance: An International Review, 16(1), 16-31.https://keffi.nsuk.edu.ng/handle/20.500.14448/685This paper is an empirical analysis of the influence of corporate governance on the performance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria for the period of2008-2012. The listed deposit money banks are seventeen (17) in number out of which a sample of ten (10) were used for the study. Specifically, the study seeks to find if corporate governance codes (proxy by board size, board composition and audit committee size) has any influence on performance. The study adopted multiple regression technique and data were collected from secondary source through the annual reports and accounts of the firms. The findings reveal that board composition is positively, strongly and significantly influencing the performance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria, while the board size has a negative impact on performance, audit committee size was found to have insignificant contribution to banks performance. It is, however, recommended that the listed deposit money banks should increase the number of outside directors on board to an average of 55% to 60% as the higher numbers may help in watching over the excess of the executive directors. Also the number of board members should be reduced to an average of fourteen (14) members as this may help improve the banks’ performance.enArticle