By Ade Jacobs
The Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has declared that there’s no going back on the decision of the Federal Government to borrow funds from unclaimed dividends, despite stiff opposition from Nigerians, particularly shareholders of quoted companies in the country.
356Daily had earlier reported that shareholders of quoted companies in the country, through its national leader emeritus, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sir Sunny Nwosu, said its members cannot trust the government, insisting that they were ready to take legal action if the government failed to shelf its plan to borrow the N895 billion from unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances.
But Buhari’s administration has been adamant, saying the 2020 Finance Act, signed last year, empowers the government to borrow the funds to finance critical infrastructure in the country.
The Finance Minister said the new Finance Act 2020, which took effect from January 1, 2021, empowers the government to adopt counter-cyclical fiscal policies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including multi-sources borrowing and tax relief to taxpayers.
Zainab said during a virtual public presentation of the Breakdown and Highlights of 2021 Appropriation Act on Tuesday, January 13, 2021, in Abuja, that the distrust among various stakeholders in the country against the government over the matter, is unnecessary and uncalled for, adding that government would hold the unclaimed dividends of investors in the stock market in trust and would make the fund available when needed by an investor.
“On the issue of unclaimed dividends and government’s accounts and projections, there would be as much as N850bn to be realised in the special trust fund of unclaimed dividends. Government is keeping the money in trust for the beneficiaries.
“At any time, a registrar or a bank confirms that this is the true and bonafide beneficiary of this fund, then the government will release from that trust fund to the investor who has it.”
While answering a question on whether there would be a return to petrol subsidy following the reduction in petrol price about a month ago, the minister said the answer was a flat no.