AKSU Journal of Administration and Corporate Governance, Volume 4 Number 2, April 2024 29 The Influence of Earnings Persistence on Financial Sustainability of Commercial Banks in Nigeria Ofonime Okon Jeremiah Email: ofonimejeremiah@uniuyo.edu.ng Essien Ekerette Akpanuko Department of Accounting Faculty of Management Sciences University of Uyo Email: essienakpanuko@uniuyo.edu.ng https://doi.org/10.61090/aksujacog.2024.018 Abstract The thought-provoking misdemeanour of some commercial banks nose-diving into a financial crisis, even after presenting seemingly good yearly performance reports, motivated this study. Thus, the study was carried out to examine the relationship between earnings persistence and the financial sustainability of commercial banks in Nigeria. This relationship was examined after controlling for leverage, interest rate and firm size of the commercial banks. The ex-post facto research design was adopted in the study. Data were obtained from the annual reports of 12 selected, listed commercial banks in Nigeria from 2012 to 2022. The multiple regression technique was used to test the hypothesis of the study. The results of the analysis revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between earnings persistence and the financial sustainability of commercial banks in Nigeria (t = 4.318, p = 0.000, p < 0.05). Based on this finding, it was recommended that commercial banks should strive to enhance their earnings persistence by increasing their operational efficiency. Keywords: Earnings persistence, sustainability, financial sustainability 1. Introduction In recent times, the quest for sustainability has attracted increasing attention in virtually all sectors in Nigeria, including the banking sub-sector. In 2012, Nigeria's apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) outlined modalities which were aimed at ensuring that all commercial banks in the country complied with its “overarching nine principles”. One of those principles centred on revolutionizing banking practice to ensure sustainability (CBN, 2012; Nelson & Orioha, 2015). A decade later, the CBN is still emphasizing a more sustainable banking approach that will help balance the environmental, social, and economic impacts of financial activities (Owuamalam, 2023). This development, of course, is borne out of an understanding of the role that banks play in the promotion of sustainability in the economic and financial system (Nelson & Orioha, 2015; Orji, 2017; Komolafe, 2018). Sustainability has several dimensions which include the financial, social and environmental dimensions. However, without financial sustainability, the social and environmental dimensions of sustainable practices expected from corporate business organizations would be a mirage (Owuamalam, 2023). The increasing need to ensure long-term economic and financial performance in the present-day volatile Nigerian business environment replete with cases of corporate failures, underscores the indispensability of pursuing financial sustainability for the perpetuation of corporate existence (Giovannoni & Fabietti, 2014).