26:I[95528,["8320","static/chunks/41ade5dc-90c252cb9fc58faa.js","4514","static/chunks/4514-c6f7fd4243ca1382.js","8500","static/chunks/8500-e4dd1cb1bb626827.js","5772","static/chunks/5772-d567479163a90457.js","5435","static/chunks/5435-aeb0c97bbd6a1e26.js","581","static/chunks/581-ddacfe5584430cec.js","2576","static/chunks/2576-2302c7e93f25ab96.js","5103","static/chunks/app/blog/post-blog/%5Bslug%5D/page-90992d1d58394cd0.js"],"default"] 25:T455,{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"The Government Is Using Your \"Forgotten Money\" - ₦100 Billion Borrowed From Your Dormant Account","description":"The money is still yours. You can claim it anytime. It's just being \"put to work\" in the meantime.\r\nSounds reasonable. Until you look at what actually led us to this point.","image":"https://zidwell.com/blog/post-blog/the-government-is-using-your-forgotten-money-100-billion-borrowed-from-your-dormant-account/opengraph-image","url":"https://zidwell.com/blog/post-blog/the-government-is-using-your-forgotten-money-100-billion-borrowed-from-your-dormant-account","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://zidwell.com/blog/post-blog/the-government-is-using-your-forgotten-money-100-billion-borrowed-from-your-dormant-account"},"datePublished":"2026-04-20T15:04:29.321+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-03T23:36:19.454+00:00","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Digital Business School"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Zidwell","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://zidwell.com/images/logo.png"}}}27:T166c,

Let's talk about something that should make every Nigerian who owns shares think deeply. The Nigerian government is now borrowing ₦100 billion from unclaimed dividends and dormant bank balances.

Not "managing." Not "holding." Borrowing.

And the longer you look at the history of how we got here, the harder it is to call it coincidental.

How We Got Here

It started with the Finance Act 2020.

That Act created the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF) — a pool designed to warehouse idle financial assets. Under that framework:

Unclaimed dividends of quoted companies
Balances in dormant bank accounts (inactive for at least six years)

…are transferred into the fund.

The government's position? The money is still yours. You can claim it anytime. It's just being "put to work" in the meantime.

Sounds reasonable. Until you look at what actually happened.

Fast Forward to December 31, 2025

The Debt Management Office (DMO) released its domestic debt stock report.

And there it was:

"UFTF FGN Security" — ₦100 billion.

That's ₦100 billion sourced from unclaimed private assets, deployed as part of the government's borrowing programme.

Let that sink in. Money that belongs to citizens — sitting on the government's balance sheet as debt.

The Pool Keeps Growing

Here's what makes this deeply uncomfortable.

As of June 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported:

₦242 billion in unclaimed dividends are sitting idle in the Nigerian capital market
Up from ₦190 billion in 2023
Up from ₦215 billion in 2024

In 2024 alone, there were over 19.69 million dormant accounts.

The pool isn't shrinking. It keeps growing.

And that tells you everything about how easy it actually is to get your money back.

The Real Problem: People Are Trying

Many of these aren't people who forgot they had dividend money.

These are people who tried.

Who gathered the documents
Who visited registrars
Who submitted forms, wrote letters, made calls
And still hit a wall

The system isn't broken. It's designed to exhaust you.

As recently as May 2025, the SEC issued a circular indicating that the UFTF is not yet operational.

But A system genuinely committed to returning unclaimed dividends would:

Make reclaiming them frictionless
Send reminders
Digitise the process fully
Meet the shareholder halfway

What This Means For You

This isn't a conspiracy theory. It's public data. The DMO published it. SEC published it. The numbers are there.

But here's what you need to understand: Your financial inaction or the system's barriers to your action aren't just a personal loss. It's someone else's borrowing capacity. Every unclaimed dividend you leave sitting? Every dormant account you forget? That's fuel for a system that has figured out how to turn your neglect into its leverage.

What You Can Do Right Now

Check your dividend records. If you own shares, follow up on every unpaid dividend.
Reclaim what belongs to you. Yes, the process is frustrating. Yes, the system makes it hard. Do it anyway.
Help family members. Many older Nigerians have unclaimed dividends they don't even know about.
Never leave money idle. If you're not actively managing your funds, inflation will eat them or the government will borrow them.

Final Thought

₦242 billion in unclaimed dividends. 19.69 million dormant accounts. ₦100 billion already borrowed.

The system didn't accidentally arrive here. It was built this way.

Know what you own. Fight to retrieve it.

Because in this economy, the money you ignore doesn't stay yours for long.

Have you ever tried to reclaim unpaid dividends for yourself or on behalf of a deceased loved one?

What was the experience like?

Drop your story in the comments. We need to talk about this.

--------------------------

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