PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the level of job satisfaction, turnover intentions and performance of Nigerian polytechnic lecturers with PhDs and to empirically examine the relationship between them.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a descriptive correlational research design. Thus, an online self-reported questionnaire was used to gather primary data from a purposively selected sample of 167 Nigerian polytechnic lecturers with PhDs. Descriptive statistics and PLS-SEM were employed to analyse the data collected.FindingsDescriptive results showed a low level of job satisfaction, high level of turnover intention and moderate level of performance of Nigerian polytechnic lecturers with PhDs. The structural model indicated a significantly positive link between job satisfaction and performance of Nigerian polytechnic lecturers with PhDs. Additionally, further analysis showed significantly negative links between job satisfaction and turnover intentions and between turnover intentions and performance of Nigerian polytechnic lecturers with PhDs.Originality/valueThere is a paucity of empirical studies on the impact of turnover intention on employee performance, particularly in the Nigerian context. This study provides empirical evidence of the negative impact of turnover intention on lecturer performance in the Nigerian context. Importantly, the findings of this study provide insights into the fundamental issues, which underlie the brain drain of lecturers in higher education institutions, especially in developing countries.