Ben-Caleb Egbide

The impact of technology on commerce cannot be denied, especially in relation to trade. This study was conducted to examine the impact of electronic banking on the financial performance of Nigerian deposit money banks. The data for the study was obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Statistical Bulletin and the National Bureau of Statistics’ Statistical Bulletin for various years, as well as from published financial statements of the banks under study. An ex-post facto research design was used and a normality test was carried out to establish the goodness of the data; descriptive statistics and a multicollinearity test were conducted in which the independent variables were found good. Regression was adopted to test two hypotheses. It was found that ATM has a positive and significant association with Earning EPS and ROA; POS and NEFT significantly affect ROA only, while WEB has an insignificant impact on both EPS and ROA. It is concluded that electronic banking significantly affects financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. Thus, the study recommended that deposit money banks in Nigeria should educate their customers more in the use of NEFT, WEB, and POS, and that the amount of ATM withdrawals should be increased to improve bank performance.

The essence of local government as contained in the Nigerian Constitution is bringing government closer to the people and make them feel the impact of governance. This study examined the responsiveness of rural development to three of the attributes of public budgeting (effectiveness, openness, and adequacy) in selected local governments in Ogun State, Nigeria. The objective was to establish the functional association and interconnectedness between the explained and explanatory variables. Data were gathered through the administration of a five-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed to 800 respondents in 8 local governments in Ogun States, out of which 348, representing 43.5%, were retrieved and used for analysis. Both descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression were utilized in the study. The result showed that three explanatory variables, namely budget effectiveness, budget openness, and budget adequacy, are positively related to rural development, although the impact of budget adequacy was shown to be insignificant. The implication is that the effectiveness of budget management and the openness of the budget in terms of transparency and accountability are more responsive and influential determinants of rural development than the adequacy of the budget estimates. The paper, therefore, recommended improvement in budget openness through more consultations and accessibility to budget information by the public as well as monitoring of projects and programs within the local council to engender development and add value to the rural dwellers.

The thorough appraisal of financial tools such as budgeting guides business leaders in effectively planning and controlling business activities for optimum productivity and profitability. Hence, proper budgeting can be used to motivate employees. This study seeks to investigate the functional association between budgetary approaches and employee motivation in the Nigerian hospitality industry. The descriptive research design was employed, and data were garnered via a structured questionnaire (using a five-point Likert) administered to 85 hospitality industry employees spanning accommodation, catering, tourism, and recreation spheres. The paper employed a purposeful sampling technique. Motivation, which is the dependent variable, was determined using the path-goal model. Both descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression were conducted to gauge the magnitude and direction of the relationship between the variables under consideration. The outcome signposts a significant positive correlation between budgeting style and employee motivation up to 48.9%. Specifically, the participatory budgeting style was shown to boost the motivation of employees to work with set budgets and to pursue company objectives. However, budget standard and success rates were observed to be slightly higher with imposed budgeting. The paper recommends that, while participatory budgeting is good for maintaining a well-motivated workforce, it should be practiced with adequate supervision to avoid having low-performing budgets.

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.

Type of article: Research Article

Abstract
Poverty remains a pressing challenge in developing economies, an necessitating analysis of financial and macroeconomic drivers of poverty reduction. Financial inclusion, particularly through access to savings and credit, has gained prominence as a pathway for households to build resilience, smooth consumption, and invest in productive ventures. This study examines the short-run and long-run effects of savings and credit from deposit money banks (DMBs) and microfinance banks (MFBs) on poverty reduction in Nigeria, with poverty headcount as the dependent variable. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was employed, using time-series data obtained from reputable national and international organizations. Findings show that DMB savings significantly reduce poverty in both the short run (coefficient = 0.0077, p = 0.0389) and long run (–0.0393, p = 0.0036), emphasizing their role in mobilizing resources that enhance household welfare. DMB credit also reduces poverty in the short run (0.0031, p = 0.0005) and demonstrates marginal long-run significance (0.0199, p = 0.0914), reflecting its contribution to productive opportunities. By contrast, MFB savings show only weak short-run significance (–0.0059, p = 0.0799) and no long-run effect (–0.0393, p = 0.2366), while MFB credit remains insignificant in both the short run (0.0025, p = 0.3973) and long run (0.0155, p = 0.5222). The study recommends that DMBs should extend short-term savings benefits into long-term poverty reduction and sustain credit facilities. MFBs should improve savings mobilization through government-backed incentives and restructure credit with lower rates, flexible repayment, and financial literacy to strengthen their poverty-reduction role.

Acknowledgment
We appreciate Landmark University for providing the platform and funding for this research work. We appreciate your involvement.