Executive tunnelling and financial performance of mortgage banks in Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fujafr-2026.v4i3.429.467-479Keywords:
Executive Tunnelling, Executive compensation intensity, Executive compensation burden, Financial Performance, Mortgage BanksAbstract
Purpose: The study examined the relationship between executive tunnelling and the financial performance of mortgage banks in Nigeria.
Methodology: The study employed panel data covering the period 2016 to 2025 and applied the random-effects panel regression model to examine the effects of executive compensation intensity (ECI) and executive compensation burden (ECB) used as measures for executive tunneling on return on assets (ROA), used as measure for financial performance.
Results and Conclusion: The results showed a strong inverse relationship between ECI and financial performance, suggesting that higher compensation intensity was linked to lower mortgage bank financial performance. ECB, on the other hand, showed a strong positive correlation with financial performance, indicating that more expansive executive compensation plans were linked to higher performance.
Implication of Findings: In general, the study established that the financial implications of executive tunnelling were not uniform but depended on the specific dimension of executive compensation considered. The results emphasized how crucial it is to carefully design executive compensation plans and bolster governance frameworks in order to guaranty that executive rewards are in line with long-term mortgage banks performance. The study came to the conclusion that Nigeria mortgage banking industry should receive more attention on the composition, transparency, and performance orientation of her executive compensation.
References
Agbai, O. C., Ogechukwu, O. S., & Akindehinde, A. O. (2026). Executive compensation and financial performance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 10(2), 3967-3978.
Ali, P. I., Uniamikogbo, E., & Afrogha, O. O. (2025). Gender-diverse boards and executive tunnelling: Insights from Nigeria's listed insurance companies. MSI Journal of Economics and Business Management, 2(7), 1-28.
Central Bank of Nigeria. (2020a). Code of corporate governance for primary mortgage banks in Nigeria. Central Bank of Nigeria.
Central Bank of Nigeria. (2020b). Revised guidelines for primary mortgage institutions. Central Bank of Nigeria.
Central Bank of Nigeria. (2022). Monetary, credit, foreign trade and exchange guidelines for fiscal years 2022/2023. Central Bank of Nigeria.
Elsayed, N., & Elbardan, H. (2018). Investigating the associations between executive compensation and firm performance: Agency theory or tournament theory. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 19, 245-270.
Fred-horsfall, F. V. (2026). Effect of executive compensation on accounting and price performance: Evidence from Nigeria financial institutions. Irass Journal of Economics and Business Management, 3(3), 60-72.
Johnson, S., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (2000a). Tunnelling (NBER Working Paper No. 7523). National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w7523
Johnson, S., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (2000b). Tunneling. American Economic Review, 90(2), 22-27.
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.
Kim, H., & Kim, W. (2020). Does tunneling explain the sensitivity of executive compensation to other member firms' performance? Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 47(9-10), 1268-1289.
Nnubia, I. C., & Obiora, F. C. (2017). Effect of director's tunnelling on firm performance of quoted companies in Nigeria.
Ohidoa, T., & Kolade, M. A. (2024). Executive compensation and firms' financial performance: Analytical approach in Nigeria. NIU Journal of Social Sciences, 10(1), 283-295.
Okafor, J. I., & Ifurueze, M. S. (2019). Effect of director's tunnelling on performance of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Journal of Accounting, Business and Social Sciences, 2(1), 1-15.
Onyele, K. O., & Ikwuagwu, E. B. (2020). The globalization wave and stock market returns in Africa. International Journal of Economics, Business and Management Studies, 7(1), 80-94.
Onyele, K. O., Onyekachi-Onyele, C., & Ikwuagwu, E. B. (2024). Maximizing industrial value added in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of trade globalisation and government regulation. World Academics Journal of Management, 12(2), 13-25.
Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). A survey of corporate governance. The Journal of Finance, 52(2), 737-783.
Smirnova, A. S., & Zavertiaeva, M. (2017). Which came first, CEO compensation or firm performance? The causality dilemma in European companies. Research in International Business and Finance, 42, 658-673.
Zik-Rullahi, H. Y. (2024). CEO pay and financial performance: Evidence from deposit money banks in Nigeria. International Journal of Accounting, Finance and Administrative Research, 1(2).
Zik-Rullahi, H. Y., Onmonya, L., Uthman, A. B., & Ebire, K. (2024). Executive compensation and financial performance of listed banks in Nigeria: Moderating role of human capital. Journal of Law and Sustainable Development, 12(6), e3711.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 John Chika Onwuchekwa, Erepamo Bibotei Fawei

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The FUDMA Journal of Accounting and Finance Research (FUJAFR) operates a copyright policy that ensures a balance between author rights and wide dissemination of scholarly work.
1. Author Copyright Retention
Authors retain full copyright of their published work without restriction. Submission to FUJAFR does not transfer ownership of copyright to the journal.
2. License to Publish
By submitting a manuscript and upon acceptance, authors grant FUJAFR:
- The right to publish, reproduce, and distribute the article
- The right to identify itself as the original publisher of the work
This grant is non-exclusive, meaning authors are free to reuse their work in other contexts, provided proper acknowledgment of the original publication in FUJAFR is made.
3. Licensing of Published Content
All articles are published under the:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Under this license:
- Users may share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes only
- Proper attribution to the author(s) and the journal is required
- Any commercial use requires explicit permission from the copyright holder
4. Author Reuse Rights
Authors are permitted to:
- Archive their published articles in institutional repositories or personal websites
- Share their work for educational and research purposes
- Reuse portions of their work in future publications (e.g., books or other articles), provided proper citation of the original publication is included
5. Third-Party Content
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use any third-party copyrighted material (e.g., images, tables, datasets) included in their manuscripts. Proper acknowledgment must be provided where required.
6. Attribution Requirement
All users of FUJAFR content must provide appropriate credit, including:
- Author name(s)
- Article title
- Journal name (FUJAFR)
- Year of publication












