Is your family owed dividends?
Many people bought shares years ago and never registered a bank account to receive the dividends. That money can still be waiting with the company’s registrar. This page shows how to check on the SEC’s own website and how to claim.
Akomalu does not search for you, never sees the names you look up, collects nothing on this page, and never handles the money. Akomalu never asks for your BVN or ID for this. Akomalu is not connected to the SEC, NIBSS or any registrar.
How much is waiting
The SEC estimates Nigeria’s unclaimed dividends at about ₦270 billion.[1]
What the law says
- Under section 60 of the Finance Act 2020, dividends declared by a company quoted on the Nigerian stock market that stay unclaimed for six years or more are to be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.[2]
- The Fund is not operating yet. Until the Federal Government sets it up, the SEC has told companies and their registrars to keep paying shareholders who claim. So today, you claim from the company’s registrar.[2]
- Dividends that had not been paid by 31 December 2020 can still be claimed if they were less than 12 years old on that date. Older ones are treated as statute-barred.[2]
- The Investments and Securities Act 2025 (section 93) says unclaimed dividends must be handled only as the SEC’s rules prescribe. Handling them any other way is an offence: a fine of at least ₦10 million, at least five years’ imprisonment, or both.[3]
Step 1 — Search on the SEC’s website
The SEC keeps a database of shareholders who have not registered a bank account for their dividends (an “e-dividend mandate”).[5] Search your own name, and the names of parents or grandparents who held shares.
The search opens on the SEC’s own site. Akomalu does not see what you type.
The SEC’s own four steps:[4]
- Go to the search portal and type your name.
- Note the name in the “Registrar” column next to the dividends.
- Download and complete the e-dividend form for that registrar from the portal.
- Submit the form through your bank or the registrar, so that dividends are paid straight into your bank account.
Step 2 — Find the registrar
The search result names the registrar that looks after the shares.[4] A registrar keeps a company’s list of shareholders and pays its dividends. To check that a registrar is genuinely registered with the SEC, look it up on the SEC’s register of operators, where its function is shown as “Registrar”.[6]
Step 3 — Register an e-dividend mandate
An e-dividend mandate tells the registrar which bank account to pay into. The SEC points shareholders to it for collecting their unclaimed dividends, and future dividends then go straight to the bank.[5] You can do it at your bank or at the registrar. The bank checks your BVN and account details; the registrar checks your name, your shareholder account number and your CHN (your account number at CSCS, the central securities depository).[7]
What to bring
For the e-dividend mandate, NIBSS lists:[8]
- your BVN and bank account number
- your surname and date of birth
- a valid Nigerian ID: voter’s card, driver’s licence, NIN card or international passport
- phone number, physical address and email address
- the company’s name
The registrar also checks your CHN, if you have one.[7]
If the shareholder has died
The shares first have to be passed to the family through the registrar (called “transmission”). Registrars usually ask for:[10]
- a copy of the death certificate
- a copy of the probate or letters of administration — the court document that names who manages the estate
- the original share certificate
Confirm the exact list with the registrar — requirements differ between registrars, and this list comes from a law firm’s article, not from a regulator.
Checklist
Print it and fill it in by hand. Nothing you tick here is saved.
If the shareholder has died — confirm the list with the registrar
From akomalu.com/unclaimed-dividends · checked 30 September 2026 · official search: eportal.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated
Sources
- [1] SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama, speech delivered by Hafsat Rufai (Director, Registration and Exchanges) at the SEC town hall, Lagos — reported by Nairametrics — 16 July 2026.
- [2] SEC circular: Treatment of unclaimed dividends of public companies (citing Finance Act 2020 s.60 and ISA 2025 ss.3(4)(e) and 93) — 5 June 2025.
- [3] Investments and Securities Act 2025, section 93 (Official Gazette No. 19, Vol. 112) — 2 May 2025.
- [4] SEC: FAQs on unclaimed dividends retrieval process — 25 November 2023.
- [5] SEC: Database of un-mandated accounts in the Nigerian capital market (e-dividend registration) — 13 April 2017.
- [6] SEC: Find a Registered Operator (the live register — function “Registrar”) — live register, checked 30 September 2026.
- [7] SEC public notice: implementation of the e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS) — 19 October 2015.
- [8] NIBSS help desk: what information is required to create a dividend mandate on the portal — last updated 21 July 2024.
- [9] SEC Director-General on official e-dividend portal addresses and cloned websites — reported by Gazette NGR — 25 August 2024.
- [10] Emmanuel Ekpenyong and Ugochi Igwe (Fred-Young & Evans LP), “Procedure for transfer and transmission of shares in Nigeria”, Mondaq — a law-firm article, not a regulator's rule — 30 March 2017.
Checked on 30 September 2026. Education, not legal advice: the registrar and the SEC have the final word. Questions about this page: open Help (bottom right), or go back to the markets.