The Senate has vowed to tackle all issues of unclaimed dividends in the capital market with the collaboration of stakeholders, saying it will ensure the restoration of investors’ confidence in the capital market.
Speaking yesterday (Monday, July 29) in Abuja at a public hearing on “Unclaimed Dividend Fund”, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Osita Izunaso, who noted that investors had lost confidence in the market, assured that the Senate would ensure that investors’ confidence returned to the capital market.
“The capital market is something that involves trust. Once that trust is eroded, people will not want to invest again. And you know that from the crash of the capital market since 2018 till today, a lot of people still don’t have confidence in the capital market.
“So it is our responsibility, it is our collective responsibility to make sure that this confidence is rebuilt.
“Whether you are a stakeholder, whether you are in the parliament, whether you are a shareholder, whoever you are, make sure that this confidence returns.
“Look at what the registrar said, that the declared dividend alone for five years is five trillion. So that means it’s an average of one trillion a year.
“So you can say that it is N1 trillion annually. So if the dividend alone can be N1 trillion, then the stock market is not doing badly.”
He noted that if the market is promoted further, Nigeria would make more money.
Explaining that the issue of unclaimed dividends has persisted owing to several factors, Izunaso mentioned those factors to include challenges in identity management within the capital market and multiple subscriptions during the era of paper dividend warrants, noting that such longstanding issues had compounded the problem of unclaimed dividends.
“However, substantial efforts are underway to address these challenges through the adoption of electronic dividend payments,” he reassured.
Declaring the hearing open, President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio said unclaimed dividends struck at the very heart of Nigeria’s financial markets and the economic landscape, describing the situation as ‘a call to action, a call to reclaim what is rightfully ours and a call to forge a stronger and more prosperous future for Nigeria.’
“Unclaimed dividends represent not just a financial loss, but a loss of trust in our capital market. We cannot afford to let this continue,” Senator Akpabio said.
“We must rise to the challenge, confront the complexities and find solutions that will restore faith in our financial system and empower our investors.”
In his submission, Director-General Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama said the reason for unclaimed dividends in the market include the use of multiple identities and lack of inadequate information.
Others, he said, are buying of shares under fictitious names and loss of dividend warrant.
“We will do everything within our power and the law to ensure that investors enjoy the benefits of their investments and they have access to their unclaimed dividends,” he surmised.
