Abstract :This study empirically investigates the effects of corporate governance paying particular attention to the structure of the board of governors and ownership on banks in Nigeria. It verifies if the addition of corporate governance variables to the financial crisis equation raises the accuracy level in comparison with the equation that is based only on economic and financial data. Panel data statistical methodology and logit model were applied to data from Nigeria banks spanning over the period 2000 and 2013. Our results show that the incorporation of corporate governance variables improved the equation by 79.15%. We also found that size of the board positively correlated with banks’ financial crisis. The researchers recommend the following among other things: The Banks regulatory authorities should pay close attention to their oversight functions of monitoring and supervision of banks. The size of the board of directors has great effects on the likelihood of bank crisis. Hence, unalloyed attention has to be paid to avoid distress. Governance mechanisms have to be set up by the shareholders so as to prevent financial crisis. This action will in no doubt lead to the shareholders realization of their investment choices.