The Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR) has urged the federal government of Nigeria to list the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Nigeria capital market.
Seyi Owoturo, president and chairman of council of the Institute disclosed this on Monday, May 13, in an interview, while speaking on the top priorities of the institute in 2024.
He explained that Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, declared a budget much more than Nigeria’s budget in the previous year, noting that NNPC also has the potential to boost Nigeria’s capital market.
“The federal government should just come and list NNPC. That will boost the capital market. It’s a no brainer, the dividend declared by Saudi Aramco for the previous year is bigger than Nigeria’s budget. So that gives you an idea of the potential of the NNPC,” Owoturo said.
According to him, the government has not been known to run business well and not only in Nigeria.
“Look at MTN and Airtel, size how they gave Nytel. MTN today is a mega business, probably the second most capitalized company in Nigeria but in the hands of the government, how was Nytel.”
He added that MTN and Airtel have contributed more to the county’s GDP despite the taxes.
Speaking on the issue of unclaimed dividends in the sector, he said there are over N200 billion unclaimed dividends.
The Registrar said there is a disinformation about unclaimed dividends, stating that it’s not a Nigerian problem alone but globally.
“In the UK, you have what is called abandoned property. They have a plot which covers unclaimed dividends, unclaimed bank balances, insurance and all, but here we are focusing on unclaimed dividends.
“There are a quantum of unclaimed bank balances in Nigeria, over a trillion but nobody is talking. The reason is that we report ours because the SEC said we must report and we report. It’s very transparent and sometimes when you are transparent people seem to punish you.
Also, he added that the story that registrars are the ones stopping investors from claiming their dividends is a fairy tale.
