Abstract:

The issues of unclaimed dividends grow on a daily basis in Nigeria as dividends declared by companies do not get to most of the beneficiaries. This keeps bothering the minds of investors as they do receive rewards for their sweat. 
Unclaimed dividends refer to declared dividends warrants sent to the various shareholders' addresses that are returned unpaid for one reason or the other to the company. Nigerian investors similar to those of most developing countries are dividend driven; therefore the growth of unclaimed dividends has become a major problem. There have been empirical studies in relation to unclaimed dividends in Nigeria. These areas have largely been centered on dividend policy, growth in unclaimed dividend, improved methods of dividend payment. 
The emphasis of this paper was therefore to investigate the management of unclaimed dividend in Nigeria. The approach of the study was a review of relevant reports from the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and financial statements of ten companies. The companies selected were highly capitalized firms in Nigeria. The study applied least square regression analysis in analyzing the data. Based on the findings it was revealed that huge amount of unclaimed dividends were being withheld by both the registrar of companies and management of these companies which are not in the interest of the shareholders. The paper recommends the need to amend the Companies and Matters  Act (LFN 2004) to allow for the creation of trust fund that would be managed by all stakeholders, the scrapping of the 12-year statute barred and that companies should be encouraged to adopt E-Dividend.