Shareholders have appealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), registrars, and stockbrokers to make the claiming processes of unclaimed dividends easy, seamless and less cumbersome.

Some shareholders who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Sunday said that making the process easy would help reduce unclaimed dividends.

The shareholders reacting to the continuous rise in unclaimed dividend figures of banks and other companies said the process of claiming dividends was currently tedious and frustrating.

Bisi Bakare, the national coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, said the administrative cost, delays and bottlenecks encountered by probate were discouraging.

Ms Bakare listed some factors that had led to the rise in unclaimed dividends to include fictitious names in buying shares during privatisation, relocation, death, and minority shareholders’ neglect due to the small amount of the dividend.

“Many shareholders purchased multiple shares they cannot remember the names used, and many of them have relocated before the introduction of e-dividend; hence, no update on the account to pay their dividend into.

“In fact, many shareholders, their wives, husbands or children are not aware of their investment in the share. How do you want them to claim what they are not aware of?

“Also, the issue of probate; its administrative cost, delays and bottleneck, the role of registrar, and sometimes intentional frustration encountered by shareholders in claiming their money contribute to reasons why unclaimed dividends are growing,’’ she said.

Moses Igbrude, the national coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, expressed regret that even some recently listed companies on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) still had unclaimed dividends.

Mr Igbrude suggested that registrars reach out to various shareholders through their contacts.

The national coordinator who frowned at the dividend trust fund created by the SEC said a multi-dimensional approach was needed to address the issue of unclaimed dividends in the country.

He said that all stakeholders must unite to educate shareholders and probate on how to claim their dividends.

“On unclaimed dividends in banks, the bank can generate money out of the system, call these people shareholders, and let them know they have an unclaimed dividend with them.

“So, if the stakeholders are really sincere, a multi-dimensional approach is what we need if we actually want to address the issue,’’ he said.

Mr Igbrude called on all stakeholders responsible for transferring shares from the deceased person to their children to make it easy and transparent.

Some banks’ unclaimed dividends for the 2024 financial year rose despite the inauguration of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) in collaboration with the SEC.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc recorded N45.99 billion as unclaimed dividends for the 2024 financial year (FY) ended December 31, as against the N14.895 billion posted at the same period in 2023.

Zenith Bank recorded N30.6 billion as unclaimed dividend in 2024 FY against the 30.1 billion declared in 2023.

Access Holdings Plc recorded a decline in unclaimed dividends with N17.73 billion in 2024 against the N21.3 billion declared in 2023.

(NAN)