Nigerian oil billionaire Muhammadu Indimi to pocket $1 million as Jaiz Bank raises dividend

Nigerian oil billionaire Muhammadu Indimi is set to receive N1.44 billion ($1.05 million) from Jaiz Bank after shareholders of Nigeria's pioneer non-interest bank approved a 57 percent increase in the lender's dividend payout at the bank's 14th Annual General Meeting, the largest dividend Jaiz Bank has distributed in its 14-year history and a direct consequence of another year of robust earnings growth.

The bank declared a dividend of N0.11 per share for the 2025 financial year, up from N0.07 per share paid for 2024 and representing a total payout of N4.91 billion ($3.57 million) across the bank's 44.58 billion issued ordinary shares. Indimi, the founder of Oriental Energy Resources, one of Nigeria's largest indigenous oil exploration and production companies, holds 29.36 percent of Jaiz Bank through a position that makes him the single largest shareholder in the institution by a significant margin. His 13.09 billion shares at N0.11 per share yield a personal dividend of approximately N1.44 billion.

The payout follows a financial year in which Jaiz Bank delivered its strongest set of results since listing on the Nigerian Exchange. Profit after tax rose 28.4 percent to N30.16 billion ($21.99 million) in the year ended December 31, 2025, driven by stronger financing income and higher investment returns from the bank's sukuk and treasury portfolio. Gross earnings reached N102.8 billion, up from N82.87 billion in 2024, with income from investment activities advancing to N56.7 billion from N44.4 billion as the bank's sukuk and trading assets expanded. Total assets grew 19.1 percent to N1.29 trillion ($938.7 million), marking the second consecutive year in which Jaiz Bank's balance sheet has crossed a new trillion-naira threshold after breaching N1 trillion for the first time at the end of 2024.

The 57 percent dividend increase reflects the board's confidence in a trajectory that has seen Jaiz Bank's profitability more than double in two years. The bank recorded N23.48 billion in profit after tax for 2024, itself more than double the N11.05 billion posted in 2023. The dividend increase from N0.04 per share for 2023 to N0.07 for 2024 to N0.11 for 2025 represents a compound growth rate in per-share payouts that has rewarded patient long-term holders, of whom Indimi is the most prominent.

Jaiz Bank was founded in 2012 as Nigeria's first fully licensed non-interest commercial bank, operating under Islamic finance principles that prohibit interest-based lending and rely instead on asset-backed financing, profit-sharing structures and sukuk instruments. It began operations under a regional licence granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria in Abuja before converting to a public liability company and obtaining a national licence in 2016. The bank now operates across Nigeria's major cities with a particular concentration in northern Nigeria, where its non-interest model aligns with the religious preferences of a large proportion of the population. Other significant shareholders include Dantata Aminu Alhassan and Alh. Umaru Abdul Mutallab.

The bank also announced during the year the appointment of Ahmed Mohammed Indimi, the billionaire's son and Head of Crude Marketing at Oriental Energy Resources, to its board as a Non-Executive Director, a move the chairman described as bringing commercial acumen and sectoral knowledge to the bank's governance at a moment of accelerating growth.

Indimi built Oriental Energy Resources from its founding in 1990 into one of Nigeria's most consequential independent oil exploration companies, with offshore assets in the Niger Delta including the Ebok Field, the Okwok Field and OML 115. He is also a prominent philanthropist and Islamic scholar who has funded mosque construction, education and healthcare initiatives across Nigeria and internationally. His Jaiz Bank stake represents one of the most significant passive investment positions in Nigerian banking outside the conventional commercial banking sector and has delivered meaningful returns as Nigeria's Islamic finance industry has moved from niche category to fast-growing segment of the country's broader financial system.