Abstract This study models time varying volatility in the Nigerian stock exchange (NSE) investigating whether it has been affected during the Covid-19 periods. We examined the persistence of volatility and the presence of leverage effects in Nigerian equity market before and during the period of Covid-19. It wad found that there is GARCH effects in the stock market before and during the Covid-19 periods. However volatility was pooling and spiky more during the Covid-19 giving the verdict that...