Senate panel grills presidential nominee on plan for unclaimed dividends, dormant accounts

The senate committees on finance, banking, insurance and other financial institutions on Thursday grilled Obehi Okafor, presidential nominee for co-chair of the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.

The Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund, created under the Finance Act 2020, manages unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances that have remained inactive for at least six years.

Okafor assured the lawmakers that if confirmed, she would prioritise “capital preservation” and ensure productive investment of unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances placed under the trust.

“My mission with the unclaimed funds is capital preservation,” she said.

She added that her focus, beyond governance, is to “optimise the returns of the unclaimed funds’’ through prudent and productive investment.

“Unclaimed funds are of two-fold, monies deposited in banks and dormant accounts for at least six years above.

“Also, the dividends of publicly-listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Those funds will cumulatively come under the trust fund, which I will be co-chairman of.

“We need to productively invest those funds as they come to us, we maximise returns and also manage the risks prudently as we invest the funds.

“The funds we hold are in trust for the owners, those who may have legal claims to them, and we are very mindful of that. However, instead of sitting idly, the federal government will have access to it to expand the fiscal landscape of the country.”

Before her nomination, Okafor served as the MD/CEO of the Edo state tourism agency.

She studied law at the University of Lagos and holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of London.

Sani Musa, chairman of the finance committee, and Tokunbo Abiru, chairman of the banking, insurance and other financial institutions committee, earlier asked the nominee to justify her appointment and outline her vision for the trust fund.

The joint committee is expected to submit its report to the senate next Tuesday for final consideration and confirmation.