National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
The Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has strongly condemned the National Assembly’s recent decision to pass legislation requiring the transfer of unclaimed dividends to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement dated June 28, 2025, ISAN described the move as a “gross violation of shareholders’ rights” and a “betrayal of investor trust.”
According to ISAN, the law undermines market confidence, lacks transparency, and is counterproductive to financial inclusion. The association is demanding the immediate suspension of the law’s implementation and has threatened to challenge it in court.
”We call on all shareholders to join us in rejecting this injustice,” the press statement reads. “Your dividends are your right — not a government fallback fund.”
ISAN had proposed reforms to the claims process at the registrar level through technology, public education, and standardization, rather than centralization and state seizure.
The association’s national coordinator, Comrade Moses Igbrude, and Mr. Eke Chibuzor signed the statement, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to assent to the law or to suspend its implementation pending judicial review.
The association cited several reasons for opposing the law, including:
- Violation of ownership rights: Unclaimed dividends remain the legal property of individual investors and their heirs.
- Undermining market confidence: The law will shake investor confidence in Nigeria’s capital markets.
- Lack of stakeholder consultation: The passage of the law without broad consultations reflects a disregard for participatory governance and due process.
- No transparency or safeguards: The SEC’s management of the funds lacks clear frameworks.
- Counterproductive to financial inclusion: The law adds complexity to the claim process.
An estimated ₦190 billion in unclaimed dividends is currently lying dormant in Nigeria’s capital market — a staggering figure revealed by capital market regulators and registrars. These funds, which rightfully belong to Nigerian shareholders, remain untouched due to a combination of outdated records, lack of awareness, and procedural bottlenecks.
The dividends in question are earnings distributed by companies to shareholders, often from investments made during the IPO booms of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many investors either failed to update their details with registrars, lost share certificates, did not open a Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) account, or simply forgot about the investments entirely. In other cases, next of kin have no knowledge of inherited shares, leaving billions of naira unclaimed across multiple registrars.
