Have You Ever Bought Shares In Nigerian Companies in the past? Public offer (Primary) or Secondary Market? Then this is for you.
Several Nigerians participate in Public offers of Nigerian publicly listed companies without going further to register with stockbrokers. For instance, the last MTN public offer in 2022 had over 126,000 investors, according to MTN and Premium Times, but I would be surprised if up to half of such investors have done anything further after that investment. Similarly, GTCO recently did a public offer with not less than 130,000 domestic investors participating in it as reported by Guardian News.
If you have ever participated in buying shares of Nigerian companies, chances are that you might have unpaid dividends waiting for you to claim (Free bucks, yeah!). Whether it was through an Initial Public offer, Public offer or bought from the Secondary market, if the company had ever declared dividends after your purchase then you are likely eligible to be paid such dividends. This also applies even if the company is no longer existing. The SEC refers to you as "Unregistered Investors for e-dividend".
In case you have forgotten or are unsure if you have unclaimed dividends, you can start by checking on the SEC Website here: https://sec.gov.ng/non-mandated/
UPDATED: based on recent feedback on the previous SEC website, here is the updated website for unclaimed dividends check- https://eportal.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated
Next step is to register with a Stockbroker. There are several of them, and you can check out some below:
StanbicIBTC StockBrokers: https://www.stanbicibtcstockbrokers.com/nigeriastockbroking/stockbroking
Investment One Stockbrokers: https://stockbrokers.investment-one.com/
CardinalStone Stockbrokers: https://cardinalstonesecurities.com/equities/
Your stockbrokers can then guide you on the next steps to reclaim your dividend. Once you become a registered investor with a CSCS Account, CHN Account and your bank account mandated for e-dividend then you would receive your unclaimed dividends, as well as subsequent dividends from the companies whose shares you own. Alternatively, if you are already registered with a Nigerian Stockbroker you can click on the Registrar of the company as listed in your details, which would lead you to the EDMMS Self service portal, then you can follow the prompts.
Happy Investing! Feel free to share this article.

The SEC portal seems decommissioned. any update on how to get the unclaimed dividends?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be working on/updating their website. You may check here: https://sec.gov.ng/for-investors/check-for-unclaimed-dividends/
ReplyDeleteIf you do not find your name, give it some days and check again.
Here is the updated website to check for your unclaimed dividends as at 8th of January 2026: https://eportal.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated
ReplyDeleteThe page keeps popping an error message when you search!
ReplyDeleteIt appears like the page is still being updated or could be a bandwidth issue. You may attempt during off-peak periods.
Delete