18/09/2025
This Morning, someone asked me a question that touched me deeply.
He said:
“Sir Iking, I once worked with Intercontinental Bank. They forced us then to take loans to buy shares, and deductions were made from our salaries. But after Access Bank took over, the balance of the loan was deducted from my terminal benefits. Till today, I have never received dividends from those shares. I don’t even know how to trace them.”
This is not only her story. It’s also Mama Ngozi’s story, and maybe even yours.
Let me explain with Mama Ngozi’s experience:
Many years ago, Mama Ngozi joined a cooperative where they deducted money from her salary monthly to buy shares in a big company.
Years later, she stopped working and relocated to the village. Dividends were still being shared every year, but Mama Ngozi never saw a kobo. Why?
Because she didn’t know one simple truth:
Dividends in Nigeria are not paid to “you” the person. They are paid to the “name + details” you used when you bought the shares.
So if:
Your phone number changed,
Your address changed,
You moved jobs,
Or the registrar handling those shares was not updated with your new details…
Then your dividends are probably sitting in a bank, untouched, waiting for you.
This is exactly what has happened to many ex-staff of banks like Intercontinental, Oceanic, Skye, etc.
What to Do to Trace Your Shares
1. Know the Company You Bought Shares In
For you, it was Intercontinental Bank. But Intercontinental later merged and became part of Access Bank.
This means your shares were automatically carried into Access Bank.
2. Find the Share Registrar
Every listed company in Nigeria has a Registrar.
For Access Bank, their current registrar is United Securities Limited.
The registrar is like the “land registry” of shares. That’s where your name is sitting.
3. Use SEC’s Free Portal (e-Dividend Platform)
Go to the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) portal and search with your name:
👉🏽 https://sec.gov.ng/non-mandated/
This will show you all shares linked to your name in Nigeria.
4. Complete an e-Dividend Mandate Form
Download the e-dividend form (available on registrars’ websites or banks), fill it, and take it to your bank with your passport photo and ID.
Once it’s processed, all your unclaimed dividends will be sent straight into your bank account.
5. Hire No Broker (Do It Yourself)
You don’t need to pay anyone. With your BVN, ID card, and bank account, you can recover your dividends.
Just know that:
Your money is not lost. It is only sleeping. And money that sleeps too long begins to die.
The same way Mama Ngozi went back to claim her shares after 10 years and was shocked at the millions waiting for her… is the same way many of you reading this can recover your forgotten investments.
So, if you ever bought shares in any Nigerian company, don’t just sit and complain.
Trace it. Claim it. And let your past labor reward you.
Because money you fail to track… becomes money you lose.
Cc: Iking Ferry
Financial Literacy Advocate,
On a mission to wake 1 million Nigerians from financial ignorance.