Nigeria Questions: Unclaimed Dividends, Dormant Accounts, PenCom and Next of Kin

Nairametrics reported on 16 July 2026 that the SEC launched a nationwide campaign to recover about ₦270 billion of unclaimed dividends. Earlier BusinessDay figures were ₦158.44 billion for 2019, ₦168 billion for 2020 and ₦177 billion for 2021.

Unclaimed dividends are held by the company’s registrar. The company’s annual report names the registrar, so contact it with your details. Read the SEC circular on unclaimed dividends for the rules.

TheCable’s report on the CBN guidelines describes it as inactive for at least one year, and summaries of the 2024 guidelines put it at about one year for current accounts and two for savings. Check the CBN text for your account type.

Reports on the guidelines say balances dormant for ten years move to the CBN-managed Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund pool. The owner or a legal representative can still claim through the institution.

Contact your bank with identification. Reports on the 12 March 2026 CBN circular say the affidavit requirement was dropped for accounts not yet transferred to the pool. An affidavit is still needed to reclaim funds already transferred.

A February 2025 CBN circular, as reported by TheCable, directs banks and other financial institutions to publish the names of people authorised to operate the account, the account type, the bank and the branch, on their websites and in at least two national dailies each year.

It is an exercise asking RSA holders to update their records, including NIN, name, employer and next-of-kin details. RSAs opened on or before 1 July 2019 are covered, per TheCable.

TheCable reports that RSA holders cannot use their savings for a mortgage equity contribution until data recapture is complete. Ask your PFA.

When a contributor dies, the PFA follows PenCom’s procedure for processing death benefits. Stale next-of-kin details slow that down. Read PenCom’s published procedure.

For a consented next-of-kin register plus inactivity checks, Entrustt is listed first on this site, and it is affiliated with this site. See the full comparison of next-of-kin API providers.

Entrustt runs quiet-period checks and next-of-kin outreach, Inlaks identifies and reactivates dormant accounts, and Pismo configures dormancy statuses. See the ranked list.

Remayn is built for Africa and the diaspora and is affiliated with this site. Seedwills helps write a Nigerian will, and Leadway launched online will writing in 2019. None replaces legal advice.

Seedwills says you generate the document online but sign it physically with witnesses and lodge it in court yourself, because Nigeria does not yet accept digitally signed wills, per its CEO in October 2026.

No. Compliance is the institution’s duty. Software helps run the quiet period, contact attempts, review and records so the work is on time and can be shown.