The SEC Non-Mandated Dividends Search: How to Check Whether Your Dividends Are Waiting

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) runs a free Non-Mandated Dividends Search at eportal.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated. You type your name and it lists shareholder accounts that have no e-dividend mandate, which means accounts where dividends cannot be paid electronically and are likely to be sitting unclaimed. Each result shows the account number, the shareholder's name, the company and the registrar. If your name appears, the next step is to mandate a bank account, online through the NIBSS self-service portal or through your registrar or bank.

What the Search Is

The SEC first published a searchable list of investors not registered for e-dividend in 2017, as part of its effort to curb unclaimed dividends. The old address, sec.gov.ng/non-mandated, now redirects to the current page at eportal.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated, titled Non-Mandated Dividends Search. The unclaimed dividends search link on the SEC's main website, sec.gov.ng, leads to the same page.

The list is built from registrars' records of accounts without a mandate. The SEC's e-Dividend Mandate Committee reported in May 2025 that the list is updated periodically and that a data link to registrars had recently been deployed to keep it current. It is a list of names and accounts, not a statement of what you are owed.

What You Enter and What It Shows

There is no login and no fee. The page has a single search box, labelled for a shareholder or company name, and a drop-down to limit results to one registrar. Results appear in a table with four columns:

• Account #: your shareholder account number with that registrar. Keep it, because registrars ask for it.
• Shareholder: the name as it is recorded on the register.
• Company: the company whose shares the account holds.
• Operator: the registrar that keeps that company's register. The name links to the NIBSS e-dividend self-service portal.

The search does not show how many shares you hold, the value of the dividends outstanding, or the dates they were declared. Only the registrar can give you those figures.

Searching Well

• Try your surname on its own, then with each first name. Registers often hold names in a different order, with initials, or with a spelling that differs from your passport.
• Search any former name, such as a maiden name, and any name you used when buying shares in public offers years ago.
• Look through every result for your name. The same person often appears under several companies and more than one registrar.
• Note the account number, company and registrar for each entry that is yours.

What It Does Not Tell You

The list covers accounts without a mandate. An account that has a mandate, even one pointing to a bank account you closed long ago, may not appear, and neither will holdings a registrar has not reported. Not finding your name is therefore not proof that you have no shares or no unpaid dividends. The search also says nothing about where your shares are held, whether they are in a CSCS account or still on paper certificates, or which broker they sit under.

If Your Name Appears: Mandating Your Account

The SEC's guidance is to register the account for e-dividend so that outstanding and future dividends can be paid into your bank account. There are two routes.

Online, through the NIBSS e-DMMS self-service portal

The e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS) is run by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) with the SEC, CSCS, registrars and banks. Its self-service interface, relaunched in December 2023 and announced by the SEC in July 2024, is at docuhub3.nibss-plc.com.ng/edmms/self-service. It lets you apply for a mandate from your own device, without visiting a bank or registrar, and select several companies' shares in one application. The NIBSS user guide lists a valid Nigerian ID card, a passport photograph and your signature as uploads. The system checks your bank account and BVN, and the registrar validates your name, shareholder account number and Clearing House Number (CHN). A mandate fee may apply; the portal calculates it before you submit.

On paper, through the registrar or your bank

You can instead complete the registrar's e-dividend mandate form and submit it through your bank or directly to the registrar. The SEC hosts many registrars' forms on its Download e-Dividend Forms page, and registrars publish their own. How to complete a mandate, and what registrars typically ask for, is covered in our guide to updating your bank details with a registrar.

After the Mandate Is Active

Registrars have been directed by the SEC to pay all outstanding dividends into accounts once they are mandated, and to bring those accounts to a zero balance. If a mandate is validated and old dividends do not arrive, or if you are dealing with very old dividends, take it up with the registrar as a claim. Our guide on how to claim unclaimed dividends in Nigeria sets out that process. Dividends unclaimed for six years or more may already have been transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund, but they remain claimable, and the registrar is still the place to start.

Finding the Holdings the List Does Not Show

The SEC search answers one question: does an account in your name lack a dividend mandate? A Find My Shares search answers a wider one. For ₦10,000 it checks across the registrars for holdings in your name, whether or not they are mandated. If you want the shares brought together, we send you the transfer forms the holders require, you complete them, and we submit them on your behalf. Moving found shares into Shares Saver is free, and they are held in your own name in your own CSCS account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the SEC non-mandated dividends search free?

Yes. The search at eportal.sec.gov.ng/non-mandated needs no account and has no charge. A fee may apply when you set up a mandate through the NIBSS portal, and some registrars charge for processing.

My name is on the list. Does that mean I am owed money?

It means the account has no e-dividend mandate, so any dividends declared on it could not be paid electronically. It is a strong sign that dividends may be outstanding, but only the registrar can confirm the amounts.

I cannot find my name. Does that mean I have nothing?

No. The list covers only accounts without a mandate, as reported by registrars, and the name may be recorded differently. Try other spellings and former names, and consider a search across the registrars for all holdings in your name.

Can I use the NIBSS self-service portal from abroad?

It is an online service, but it validates a Nigerian bank account and BVN and asks for a valid Nigerian ID. Dividends are paid in naira to a Nigerian bank account in your own name.