Fresh figures from the Debt Management Office have revealed that the Federal Government raised N100bn by converting money from unclaimed dividends and long-inactive bank accounts into government securities.
The amount, listed in the DMO’s domestic debt data as “UFTF FGN Security,” was captured as part of Nigeria’s public debt as of December 31, 2025. Though small compared to major instruments like FGN bonds and Treasury bills, the entry shows that funds originally belonging to private investors and bank customers are now being used within the government’s borrowing structure.
The money sits under the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund, a pool created by the Finance Act 2020 to warehouse idle financial assets. Under the arrangement, dividends from listed companies that remain unclaimed and balances in bank accounts that have stayed dormant for at least six years are transferred into the fund.
According to the National Debt Management Framework for 2023–2027, the DMO oversees the management of the pool alongside the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Once the money is invested in federal securities, it is officially counted as part of government debt.
This means the N100bn recorded represents funds sourced from private, unclaimed assets but deployed by the government for financing purposes.
The Finance Act had provided legal backing for this mechanism, stating that the transferred dividends become a special debt owed by the Federal Government to the rightful owners, who retain the right to claim their money at any time.
The disclosure comes at a period when Nigeria’s debt profile continues to expand due to widening fiscal deficits and heavy reliance on local borrowing. As of December 2025, total domestic debt stood at about N80.49tn, with FGN bonds making up more than three-quarters of the figure.
Despite the relatively small size of the N100bn, the policy of using unclaimed private funds has faced pushback since it was introduced. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project had previously urged the government to halt plans to draw hundreds of billions of naira from such sources.
In 2024, the CBN instructed banks and other financial institutions to move dormant accounts and unclaimed balances into a dedicated pool account known as the Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund. The directive followed a review of earlier guidelines and required banks to disclose details of such accounts publicly.
The apex bank also stated that the warehoused funds could be invested in Nigerian Treasury Bills and other approved securities, with a requirement that beneficiaries be refunded their principal and any accrued interest within 10 working days of making a claim.
Accounts under legal disputes or investigations were excluded from the directive.
The development highlights an unusual component of Nigeria’s debt mix, where private, forgotten funds are temporarily absorbed into the government’s financing framework, while still remaining legally claimable by their original owners.
