October 14, 2025
As of June 2025, unclaimed dividends in Nigeria’s capital market totalled NGN 242 billion, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The figure grew steadily over the years, from NGN 158.4 billion in 2019 to NGN 190 billion in 2023, and now NGN 242 billion.
This money largely belongs to Nigerians who invested in companies but for one reason or the other, are yet to claim the return of their investments. Some of these dividends are decades old and long forgotten, the question is- can they still be reclaimed?
What exactly is Dividend?
A dividend is simply the portion of a company’s profit paid to its shareholders.
When you buy shares in a company, you become a part-owner. If the company makes a profit and decides to share it, you’re entitled to your share, that’s your dividend. Dividends can be paid annually, semi-annually, or intermittently, depending on the company’s policy.
In the past, dividends were paid through dividend warrants, basically paper cheques mailed to shareholders. You’d take them to your bank, deposit them, and wait for the money to clear.
Where does the “unclaimed” part come in?
“Unclaimed dividends” are dividends that have been declared and paid by the company but never got to the shareholder.
This could happen for various reasons. One of such reasons is where the shareholder changed his/her address and did not update their details. Sometimes, it could be that the dividend cheque got lost in the mail or was never delivered, or the shareholder passed away, and their next of kin never followed up.
Over time, these unclaimed sums pile up. Multiply that by millions of shareholders and dozens of companies, and you begin to see why NGN 242 billion is still sitting out there.
The Advent of E-Dividend
To fix the problem, the SEC introduced the E-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS) in 2015. This system allows shareholders to receive dividends directly into their bank accounts. This meant no more cheques and no more lost mails.
The shareholder simply fills an e-dividend mandate form, available from Registrars or banks. By Registrars, we mean SEC-licensed institutions appointed by public companies to maintain their register of shareholders and manage dividend payments.
These Registrars verify the information using the shareholder’s Bank Verification Number (BVN). Once linked, all future dividends are automatically paid straight into the shareholder’s bank account. Thanks to this reform, the rate of unclaimed dividends dropped sharply. However, the old, unclaimed ones remained in the system, and are still in the system.
What happens to unclaimed dividends?
What the rule used to be:
Section 432 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 provides that dividends are special debts due to and recoverable by shareholders within 12 years, and actionable only when declared. It further states that dividends that are unclaimed after 12 years should be included in the profits that should be distributed to the other shareholders of the company.
The implication of this was that after a period of 12 years, unclaimed dividends became statute-barred, and the shareholders could no longer legally claim them. This rule caused many investors to permanently lose access to old dividends.
New position of the law:
The Finance Act 2020 (which came into effect on 1 January 2021) introduced a new framework known as the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF) for publicly quoted companies. The fund was created to ensure that unclaimed assets of publicly quoted companies are not lost and can be accessed by their rightful owners at any time.
Section 60 of the Finance Act amends section 432 of CAMA, and provides that the dividends of a public company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange which has remained unclaimed for a period of six years or more from the date of declaring the dividend, shall be immediately transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.
The Act further provides that such unclaimed dividends transferred to the UFTF shall be a special debt owed by the Federal Government to the shareholders and shall be available for claim by the shareholder at any time.
The Finance Act does not necessarily repeal the provisions of CAMA, it only alters it to the extent that while the 12 year statute barred rule applies to dividends declared by private companies to their shareholders, the UFTF framework is specifically for public companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
These publicly listed companies have a duty to ensure the transfer of dividends that have been unclaimed for 6 years or more, from their Registrars to the UFTF, managed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The key difference here is that the funds remain the property of the shareholder. They are held in trust and not forfeited. The shareholder (or their legal representative) can claim the funds at any time, even after six or twelve years.
When does the six-year period start counting?
The Finance Act 2020 does not expressly provide that the six years should count retroactively.
However, by the intent and interpretation of the Act, the rule applies to all unclaimed dividends still outstanding as of 1 January 2021, regardless of how long they had been unclaimed before then.
This means that dividends already unclaimed for more than six years before 1 January 2021, immediately qualify to be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund, while for dividends declared after 1 January 2021, the six years start counting from the date the dividend was declared payable by the company.
What about dividends that had already become statute-barred (over 12 years old before 2021)?
That’s the grey area. Technically, under the old law, those dividends had already reverted to the company, so they were no longer legally claimable. Since the Finance Act 2020 did not expressly revive such forfeited dividends, they will remain with the companies.
Dividends unclaimed for less than 12 years as at 1 January 2021 fall under the new Finance Act regime, and if they’ve now exceeded six years, they are transferred to the UFTF.
How Dividend is Claimed?
If you suspect you have unclaimed dividends, here’s what to do:
Visit the SEC Unclaimed Dividend Portal (https://sec.gov.ng ) and search for your name;
Identify the Registrar handling the company where you held shares;
Download and fill the e-dividend or retrieval form from the Registrar’s website;
Attach your valid ID, BVN, bank details, and proof of shareholding (if any);
Submit online or at the Registrar’s office, and wait for verification and payment.
Unclaimed dividends don’t vanish but they gather dust if you don’t act fast.
Courtesy: Lawpadi
