The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a nationwide awareness campaign aimed at helping investors and beneficiaries recover unclaimed dividends and inherited investments, as part of efforts to strengthen investor protection and reduce the volume of dormant assets in Nigeria’s capital market.

The initiative, unveiled in Abuja through the Probate/Unclaimed Monies Awareness and Investor Clinic, seeks to educate investors, beneficiaries and estate executors on probate procedures, estate administration and the processes involved in accessing financial assets left behind by deceased relatives.

Speaking at the event, Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director-General of the SEC, said the Commission was addressing a long-standing challenge that had prevented many families from accessing investments belonging to deceased relatives.

Agama said many beneficiaries face difficulties obtaining probate, letters of administration, death certificates and other documents required to claim shares, dividends and other financial 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,” he said.

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According to him, the complexity surrounding estate administration often leaves beneficiaries unable to access legitimate investments and other financial assets inherited from deceased relatives.

He described unclaimed dividends and dormant assets as a major concern for the Nigerian capital market, noting that the funds represent money that should be benefiting families but remains idle because beneficiaries are unable to access them.

“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,” Agama said.

The SEC DG said the Commission was committed to bridging the gap through policy reforms, investor education and sustained engagement with investors, beneficiaries and other stakeholders in the capital market.

He stressed the importance of ensuring that investors and their families were adequately informed about the procedures for documenting, preserving and transferring financial assets to beneficiaries.

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Agama said the awareness campaign would also provide an avenue for members of the public to better understand probate processes and the requirements for recovering unclaimed monies and inherited investments.

Also speaking, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Meristem Registrars and Probate Services Limited, Ms Nkechinyelu Okoye, identified poor awareness and inadequate estate planning as major factors contributing to the accumulation of unclaimed financial assets.

Okoye said some beneficiaries were unaware that financial assets such as shares and dividends formed part of a deceased person’s estate, while others did not know that their deceased relatives had investments in the capital market.

She added that some beneficiaries were also unfamiliar with the documentation and legal procedures required to establish their entitlement and successfully claim the assets.

According to her, these challenges often result in financial assets remaining unclaimed for extended periods, even when legitimate beneficiaries are available.

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The initiative is expected to improve public awareness of probate and estate administration procedures while helping more families identify and recover investments and other financial assets belonging to them.

It is also part of broader efforts to reduce the volume of unclaimed dividends and dormant assets in the capital market and ensure that funds belonging to investors and their beneficiaries are returned to their rightful owners.

Debt Management Office (DMO) said the federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter  of 2026.

The office disclosed the data in its latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026.

The figure comprises N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.

The agency said in January, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service, while the figure rose to N967.67 billion in February.

Debt service increased further to N1.43 trillion in March, bringing the total for the quarter to N3.14 trillion.

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The March figure was 47.7 percent higher than the N967.67 billion recorded in February and 92.7 percent above the N741.82 billion spent in January.

Also, the debt office said interest payments accounted for about 94.6 percent of total domestic debt service during the quarter.

The DMO said treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest on federal government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.

The agency said the government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.

The DMO said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.

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Overall, the government’s domestic debt service rose sharply through the quarter, with March accounting for almost half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.

Nigeria’s public debt increased by 0.01 percent to N159.35 trillion in the Q1 of 2026.

Interswitch Group, an integrated digital payments and commerce company, together with global banking software provider, Temenos have reassured the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of their commitment to advancing the modernisation of Nigeria’s financial services sector.

Interswitch and Temenos had earlier in June announced a strategic partnership across Africa which would see Interswitch leverage Temenos solutions – across core banking, digital banking, payments, wealth management and financial crime mitigation – to provide cloud-hosted and on-premises managed services to banks and financial institutions across Africa.

This will enable institutions to progressively transform their banking platform and evolve to more customer-centric business models. The service will initially support key African markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and others.

The recent regulatory visit to CBN headquarters in Abuja, was led by the Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, and Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) at Temenos, Santhosh Rao, as part of the ongoing efforts by both organisations to deepen collaboration with Central Banks across the African region on the future of digital banking infrastructure across Nigeria and key African markets.

Discussions centred on the strategic partnership between Interswitch and Temenos, and how it will enable Nigerian financial institutions to progressively modernise their core banking platforms and transition to more customer-centric business models.

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The two organisations also explored opportunities to work with the CBN in charting new frontiers in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) innovation, leveraging resilient financial networks and decentralised application platforms to support the issuance and management of CBDCs.

Commenting on the visit, Elegbesaid: “Our partnership as Interswitch with Temenos and our continued engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria reflect a shared commitment to building banking infrastructure that is resilient, inclusive, and ready for the next phase of Africa’s financial evolution.

We are proud to be at the table as these conversations shape the future of digital banking technology and innovation across key Africa markets…”