Francis Iyoha

The responsibility of the government of any economy cannot be overemphasized. Likewise, the resources generated and infrastructural development helps to boost the economic growth of any nation. There has been overdependency of Nigerian economy on the oil sector, the major source of revenue. However, this sector has experienced several challenges ranging from devaluation in naira and fall in prices of crude oil in the international market. This serves as a revelation for the Nigerian government to seek an additional source of income. To this end, the main aim of this paper is to examine the impact of total tax revenue on agricultural performance in Nigeria. The study uses Engel and Granger approach to cointegration to establish the long- and short-run behavior, it was found that a positive and significant relationship exists between revenue obtained in the agricultural sector, capital in agricultural sector proxy by loan and agricultural output, while employment and total tax generated are not significant in the short run. In the long run, employment, capital and total revenue are statistically significant with agricultural output, while tax is insignificant. The implication of the result showed that tax has not yielded desirable result in promoting the agricultural sector in Nigeria. To promote pro-poor growth, long-run employment and improve overall welfare, there is a need to incorporate benefit from tax into agricultural performance. The study recommends among others the need for a systemic approach, given a significant percentage of the total tax generated to boost the development of the agricultural sector.

Regulation and regulatory agencies are to serve as external control mechanisms to ensure that the financial statements provide a fair view of the company’s operating performance and financial position, free of any unethical practice and suitable for all stakeholders’ needs. Despite the increasing importance of regulatory agencies in enforcing compliance with the standards and laws, it occupies a limited space in accounting research. This study, therefore, investigated the impact of regulatory agencies on creative accounting practices. The study used descriptive and survey research design to achieve its aim. It employed a multi-stage sampling technique, also questionnaires were distributed among 405 respondents consisting of preparers of accounts, users of accounts, and regulators. Out of the number distributed, the respondents returned 241 copies, and all of them were found suitable. The study used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to analyze the data and test the hypothesis. The empirical findings showed that the regulatory agencies jointly show a significant impact on creative accounting practices, but the level of contribution to the overall impact by each regulatory agency varies. The study concludes that Nigeria’s regulatory agencies are weak and inefficient in enforcing compliance with the relevant rules. The study recommends that the institutional capacity of the regulatory agencies should be strengthened by enforcing compliance with financial reporting rules and regulation. Most of these agencies should develop capacity in the areas of manpower, information technology infrastructures, and funding.

Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge Covenant University who has solely provided the platform for this research and has also fully sponsored the research cluster search for data across the country.