Elegbede Abiodun
Finance Act 2020 requires public limited liability companies quoted on the Exchange to transfer any unclaimed dividend that has remained unclaimed for a period of not less than six years to the Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund.
Nestle Nigeria Plc and nine other companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) have declared N24.3 billion unclaimed dividend for the year ended December 31, 2025, about 26 per cent drop from N32.65 billion reported in 2024.
The other companies include: Dangote Cement Plc, MTN Nigeria Communication Plc, UAC of Nigeria, BUA Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, AXA Mansard Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Aradel Holdings Plc and Seplat Energy Plc.
In 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed all registrars to return all unclaimed dividends, which have been in their custody for 15 months and above, to the paying companies.
However, the finance Act 2020, which became effective on January 1, 2021, requires public limited liability companies quoted on the Exchange to transfer any unclaimed dividend that has remained unclaimed for a period of not less than six years to the Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund.
Among the companies, Nestle Nigeria declared the highest unclaimed dividend during the period under review, followed by Dangote Cement.
Nestle Nigeria in its 2025 result and accounts declared N4.31 billion unclaimed dividend, nearly 52 per cent drop from N8.97 billion posted in 2024.
According to Nestle, “In compliance with the provisions of the Finance Act 2020, the sum of N4.1billion unclaimed dividends that were outstanding for the period of six (6) years but below 12years as well as unclaimed dividends that are currently exceed six (6) years has been transferred to our Registrars for the purpose of remittance to Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund of Debt Management Office (DMO) during the year 2025.”
Dangote Cement on the other hand declared N4 billion unclaimed dividend, about 23.1 per cent drop from N5.2billion unclaimed dividend declared in 2024.
Lafarge Africa, a cement manufacturing company came close with N3.21billion unclaimed dividend in 2025, about 8.6 per cent increase when compared to N2.95billion in 2024, while Unilever Nigeria reported N3.2 billion unclaimed dividend for shareholders in 2025 from N286.26million in 2024.
As Nigerian Breweries declared N2.7 billion unclaimed dividend in 2025, about 61 per cent drop from N6.9 billion in 2024, Seplat Energy saw its unclaimed dividend moved from N1.5 billion in 2024 to N2.4 billion in 2025, a growth of 56.9 per cent.
Seplat Energy revealed its unclaimed dividend stood at $284,365.91 and N1,997,232,083.07 unclaimed dividend in 2025.
Telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria announced N1.67billion unclaimed dividend in 2025, about 172 per cent increase over N612.5 million posted in 2024.
MTN Nigeria in its 2025 financial year report stated that there was no returned unclaimed dividend received by the Group during the year ended December 31, 2025 (2024: N287.7 million).
However, Coronation Registrars Limited issued funding request notices totaling N66.95 million to the company during the year, which were duly honoured (2024: N525.9 million). The total unclaimed dividend liability outstanding as at 31 December 2025 is N1.67 billion (2024: N612.5 million),” the company explained.
Meanwhile, UAC Nigeria stated in its 2025 results a N1.2 billion unclaimed dividend, a drop of 75 per cent from N4.8billion in 2024. UAC Nigeria revealed that in the 2025 financial year, the group transferred N4.1billion in compliance with the Finance Act 2020.
In addition, Aradel Holdings posted N979.42 million unclaimed dividend, in 2025, about 79 per cent increase over N547million in 2024, as BUA Cement reported N979.42million in 2025, a decline of 23.28 per cent from N714.15million reported in 2024. AXA Mansard, thus, declared N94.8 million unclaimed dividend in 2025, 32 per cent drop from N139.24 million in 2024.
The Immediate Past President of the Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR), Mr. Seyi Owoturo, in an interview with THISDAY disclosed that Nigeria’s total unclaimed dividends is N200 billion.
He said, “When compared to national budgets or infrastructure projects running into trillions, that figure is relatively small. Over the past 12 years, unclaimed dividends represent about 3–3.5 per cent of total declared dividends — and that includes legacy companies like First Bank Holdings, Nestlé Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria, and Unilever Nigeria.
“If you focus on newer companies like Airtel Africa, MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement, and Seplat — companies listed after the BVN era — the figure drops to below one per cent . In fact, MTN has paid over N1 trillion in dividends since listing, with less than N500 million unclaimed. This is largely a legacy issue from the pre-BVN era.
He added, “If someone bought shares 20 years ago, never updated their records, and perhaps passed on, dividends will accumulate. Unlike banks, capital market accounts are not formally classified as dormant.
“Do registrars deliberately frustrate investors? I have no evidence of that. As former President of the Institute of Capital Market Registrars, we invited complaints and promised disciplinary action where necessary. I did not receive a single formal complaint. Yes, we must continue reducing unclaimed dividends — but perspective is important.”
