E-Dividend Mandate Form: How to Get Your Nigerian Dividends Paid Into Your Bank

An e-dividend mandate is an instruction on a company's register telling its registrar which bank account to pay your dividends into. Since the SEC's e-dividend drive, Nigerian dividends are paid electronically, and the SEC states that all investors are required to register for e-dividend. You can register in three ways: the registrar's e-dividend mandate form, your bank branch, or the SEC and NIBSS self-service portal online. Without a mandate, dividends are not lost: the registrar holds them as unclaimed until you mandate an account.

Why the Mandate Matters

Each company's dividend goes to the shareholders on its register at the qualification date, paid through the registrar. The registrar can only pay electronically into an account that has been mandated and verified against your details. If the name on the register and the name on the bank account do not match, or the account has been closed, the payment fails and the dividend is held for you. A shareholder with shares in companies served by different registrars will usually need to mandate with each, unless they use the self-service portal described below.

Three Ways to Register

1. Online, through the e-DMMS self-service portal

The e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS) was built by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) with the CSCS, and first went live on 29 July 2015. It checks your account name, account number, signature, BVN and Clearing House Number (CHN) with your bank and the registrars. A revamped version with a self-service interface went live in December 2023 and was announced by the SEC in July 2024, at docuhub3.nibss-plc.com.ng/edmms/self-service. It lets you mandate from your own device and select all the companies you hold in one application, without visiting a bank or registrar.

2. At your bank branch

Under the SEC's notice on e-DMMS, investors can enrol at a branch of their bank by completing an e-dividend mandate form. The bank validates your BVN and account details and passes the mandate on for the registrar to validate your shareholder account and CHN.

3. With the registrar's own form

Each registrar publishes its own e-dividend mandate form, usually on its website, and the SEC's website hosts a page of registrars' e-dividend forms. You complete the form, have it stamped by your bank where the form requires it, and return it to the registrar.

What the Forms Ask For

Registrars' forms differ in layout but ask for much the same details:

• Your full name exactly as it appears on the register, and the companies concerned.
• Your BVN, bank name, account number and, on some forms, the date the account was opened.
• Your CHN (Clearing House Number) and any shareholder account number with the registrar.
• A passport photograph and your signature, and on some forms your TIN.
• Some registrars accept only accounts at clearing banks, and some charge a small processing fee stated on the form.

Registrar Forms and Guides

Our registrar guides explain who each registrar is, which companies it serves and where to find its forms: Meristem Registrars, First Registrars, Africa Prudential, Coronation Registrars (formerly United Securities), CardinalStone Registrars, Greenwich Registrars (formerly GTL), Veritas Registrars, DataMax Registrars and APEL Capital Registrars. If you do not know which registrar keeps a company's register, the company's latest annual report names it.

Dividends You Never Received

The SEC publishes a Non-Mandated Dividends Search for accounts that have dividends waiting because no mandate is in place. Once a mandate is validated, the registrar can pay outstanding dividends into the mandated account. On how long unclaimed dividends remain claimable, the SEC's circular of 5 June 2025 noted that under section 60 of the Finance Act 2020 dividends unclaimed for six years or more are to go to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund, which was not yet operating, and directed public companies and registrars to keep honouring shareholders' claims. In July 2026 the SEC began a nationwide campaign on about ₦270 billion of unclaimed dividends.

If you suspect you hold shares you have lost track of, under an old CHN, on paper certificates or with several registrars, Find My Shares is a ₦10,000 search across the registrars for holdings and dividends in your name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is e-dividend registration compulsory in Nigeria?

The SEC states that all investors are required to register for the electronic payment of dividends. Dividends for shareholders without a mandate are held by the registrar until they register.

Do I need a separate mandate for every company?

With a registrar's form you normally list the companies on it, and you deal separately with each registrar. The e-DMMS self-service portal lets you select all your holdings in one application.

How long does an e-dividend mandate take?

There is no single official timescale. It depends on the registrar and on whether your details match first time. Ask the registrar to confirm once the mandate is active, and then to pay any dividends it was holding.

Will my mandate cover future dividends?

Yes. Once validated, future dividends from that registrar's companies are paid into the mandated account until you change it. Update the mandate if you close the account.