The Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund: What Happens to Nigerian Dividends Unclaimed for Six Years

In Nigeria, a dividend declared by a company quoted on the Nigerian Exchange that stays unclaimed for six years or more is meant to be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF), created by the Finance Act 2020 and overseen by the Debt Management Office (DMO). The money is not forfeited. The law treats it as a debt the Federal Government owes you, and it remains claimable. In practice, a claim still starts with the company's registrar, and before that, with knowing which shares you own.

What the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund Is

The Finance Act 2020 was signed on 31 December 2020. Among its changes, it set up the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund as a sub-fund of the Federal Government's Crisis Intervention Fund. Two kinds of money are meant to go into it:

• Dividends declared by public companies quoted on the Nigerian Exchange that have remained unclaimed for six years or more.
• Unused balances in bank accounts that have been dormant for six years or more.

The DMO supervises the fund and acts as its secretariat. A governing council chaired by the Minister of Finance sits above it, with members drawn from bodies that include the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the DMO. Money transferred in is described in the Act as a special debt owed by the Federal Government to the shareholder or account holder. It is available to be claimed at any time, together with the yield earned on it.

What Moves Into the Fund, and What Does Not

The fund receives cash: dividends that were declared but never paid out, and dormant bank balances. Your shares themselves are not moved. They stay on the company's register of members in your name, and future dividends on them are still declared and paid through the company's registrar in the normal way. For someone holding old shares, that means two separate questions: whether the shares are still there, and whether old dividends on them have been paid, are still with the registrar, or have gone to the fund.

The Six-Year and Twelve-Year Rules

Before the Finance Act 2020, companies treated dividends unclaimed for more than twelve years as statute-barred, meaning the shareholder could no longer claim them. In a circular published on 5 June 2025, the SEC said that companies and registrars had continued to treat dividends older than twelve years as statute-barred without regard to the Finance Act, and clarified the position:

• Dividends of quoted public companies unclaimed for six years or more are expected to be transferred to the fund and held in trust until the shareholder claims them.
• Shareholders are entitled to continue to claim dividends that had not become statute-barred, that is, were not more than twelve years old, before 31 December 2020, when the Act came into effect.
• Until the Federal Government has set up and operationalised the fund, public companies and their registrars must continue to honour all shareholder requests for unclaimed dividends.

The practical reading is that a dividend which was already more than twelve years old by the end of 2020 may be treated as statute-barred, while anything more recent remains claimable, whether it is still with the registrar or has been passed to the fund. Where a particular payment falls is a question for the registrar, which holds the dividend history for your account.

Where the Fund Stands Now

For several years after 2020 the fund existed in law but not in practice, which is why the SEC's June 2025 circular still spoke of it as awaiting operationalisation. Since then there have been signs of it working:

• In July 2025 the Nigerian press reported that the SEC had directed registrars to transfer qualifying unclaimed dividends into an account set up and managed by the DMO.
• The DMO's schedule of Federal Government domestic debt as at 31 December 2025, published in April 2026, lists a "UFTF FGN Security" of ₦100 billion.
• Several listed companies reported in their 2025 accounts that old unclaimed dividends had been passed to their registrars for remittance to the fund.

The fund's rules and procedures can change, and a separate public claims process for it may be introduced. Check the current position with the registrar when you make a claim.

How You Claim a Dividend That May Have Moved

Start with the registrar of the company that paid the dividend, exactly as you would for any unclaimed dividend. The registrar keeps the payment history on your account and can tell you whether an outstanding dividend is still held by it or has been transferred to the fund, and what it needs from you to release or recover it. You will normally be asked to prove your identity and your ownership of the shares, and to set up an e-dividend mandate so the money has a validated bank account to go to. The step-by-step registrar process is covered in our guide on how to claim unclaimed dividends in Nigeria, and setting up or changing the mandate is covered in our guide to updating your bank details with a registrar.

Why Finding Your Shares Comes First

Most unclaimed dividends belong to people who bought shares years ago, often in public offers, and then moved house, changed bank, went abroad or lost the paperwork. Many no longer know which companies they hold, which registrars serve those companies, or whether the shares were ever put into a CSCS account. Until you know that, there is nothing to take to a registrar.

A Find My Shares search costs ₦10,000 and checks across the registrars for holdings in your name. Once you know what you hold and where, you can take each dividend question to the right registrar. If you want the shares themselves in one place, we send you the transfer forms that the holders of your shares 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. Shares still on paper certificates have to be dematerialised first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my money lost if my dividend went to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund?

No. The Finance Act 2020 describes money in the fund as a special debt owed by the Federal Government to the shareholder, available to be claimed at any time together with the yield on it. Begin with the registrar of the company that declared the dividend.

After how many years do unclaimed dividends go to the fund?

Six years or more, for dividends declared by public companies quoted on the Nigerian Exchange. The same six-year period applies to unused balances in dormant bank accounts.

Can I still claim a dividend that is more than twelve years old?

It depends on when the twelve years ran out. The SEC has said shareholders can continue to claim dividends that were not statute-barred, meaning not more than twelve years old, before 31 December 2020. A dividend that had already passed twelve years by then may be treated as statute-barred. The registrar can tell you how a specific payment is treated.

Does the fund take my shares as well as my dividends?

No. The fund is for unclaimed cash, meaning dividends and dormant bank balances. Your shares stay on the company's register in your name.

Can the family of a deceased shareholder claim?

The Act provides for claims by the shareholder or their legal beneficiaries. The registrar will set out what it needs from the executors or administrators, which is usually the grant of probate or letters of administration. Shares Saver does not handle estates or the transfer of a deceased shareholder's shares.