By Joy Odor
The Senate Committee on Capital Market on Monday held a one-day public hearing on ‘Unclaimed Dividend Funds to address the lingering meance.
The Committee Chairman, Senator Osita Izunaso in his opening remark at the hearing on Monday, challenged that despite the ongoing reforms of the electronic dividend portal overseen by the electronic dividend mandate committee and NIBSS, it continue to grapple with significant volumes of unclaimed dividends, even within companies like MTN Nigeria, which underwent a digital offering with extensive documentation.
He lamenting that the issue of the fund has persisted for a long time due to several factors.
Earlier, while declaring the public hearing opened, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio affirmed that Nigeria cannot afford to let the issue continue, urging all stakeholders to rise to the challenge, confront the complexities, and find bold solutions that would restore faith in the financial systems and empower our investors.
Represented by Senator Binos Yaroe, Akpabio explained that the unclaimed dividends is tantamount to loss of trust in Nigeria’s capital market, adding that it can also slow down the nation’s economy.
The Senate President affirmed that Nigeria which is endowed with vast resources and a resilient spirit, has the capacity to become a beacon of economic prosperity and opportunity.
“We have witnessed the exponential growth of unclaimed dividends, a reflection of the systemic issues that have plagued our financial sector for far too long.
“We have the power to transform our capital market into a vibrant hub of investment, innovation and wealth creation.
“We stand on a crossroads, where the choices we make’ll shape the destiny of our capital market and the future of our nation” he said.
