The goal of the study was to determine the relationship between executive compensation and performance of financial institutions in Nigeria between 2013 and 2024. Purposive sampling method was adopted to gather data for the study. The study proxied executive compensation as chairman pay and executive directors‟ pay. Hausman test was adopted for selection of model and Multiple Regression was used to determine nature of relationship. Post estimation tests were carried out including test of stability for Regression. The study found significant positive relation between Chairman‟s pay and all performance variables ROCE, Net profit margin, market price and Tobin Q. Study also found insignificant relationship of directors pay with ROCE and Net profit margin and a significant relation of Directors pay on Tobin and Market price implying that reverse causality among directors pay on accounting and market performance. Board independence exerted significant moderating role while firm size contributed to improved Chief executive pay. Bigger firms are likely to use increase Chief Executive pay which in turn improves performance, The implication of finding is that theoretically the chairman is a good steward acting in the interest of the firm utilizing skills and knowledge to drive performance while additional pay helps to align executive functions with corporate goal mitigating agency conflicts and increasing performance thus aligning theoretically with agency, stewardship, Resource dependency and knowledge-based theories. The study also simultaneously rejects tournament and managerial power theory. The study recommends Increased regulatory monitoring and corporate governance oversight to prevent use of Executive pay in asset expropriation.