SEC Launches Drive to Recover Unclaimed Investments

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a nationwide campaign to help Nigerians recover unclaimed dividends and investments inherited from deceased relatives.

The initiative, introduced in Abuja through the Probate/Unclaimed Monies Awareness and Investor Clinic, aims to guide investors, beneficiaries and estate executors through probate procedures, estate administration and the steps required to access inherited financial assets.

SEC Director-General, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said the Commission wants to address the long-standing difficulties many families face when claiming investments left by deceased relatives. He noted that beneficiaries often struggle to obtain probate, letters of administration, death certificates and other documents needed to access shares, dividends and related assets.

“For many Nigerian families, the death of a loved one who held shares, dividends or other investments marks the beginning of a long and often confusing journey,” Agama said.

He described unclaimed dividends and dormant assets as a major concern for Nigeria’s capital market because these funds belong to families but remain unused.

“Across our market, unclaimed dividends and dormant assets represent real money—money that belongs to real families, sitting idle, disconnected from the people it was meant to serve,” he said.

Agama added that the SEC would continue using policy reforms and investor engagement to help reconnect beneficiaries with their assets.

Meanwhile, Ms Nkechinyelu Okoye, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Meristem Registrars and Probate Services Limited, blamed poor awareness and weak estate planning for many unclaimed financial assets.

She said some beneficiaries do not realise that financial investments form part of an estate, while others are unaware that deceased relatives owned investments or do not understand the documents required to claim them.

Could better awareness help more Nigerian families recover their inherited investments?