By Chibuike Nwabuko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has advised Nigerians to exercise caution when investing in the stock market, arguing that the experience of some investors raises questions about the returns they obtain from such investments.
Sani, in a post on his X handle on Sunday, said investors needed to have “a strong liver” to survive what he described as the challenges associated with the Nigerian stock market.
He also took a swipe at stockbrokers, accusing some of them of using persuasive sales pitches to convince prospective investors to commit their money to the market before asking them to wait for long-term returns.
“The stock brokers have ‘sweet mouth’. They will make you believe in magic until you pump in your money,” Sani wrote. Using a hypothetical ₦5 million investment, the former lawmaker said an investor could receive a dividend alert of only ₦50,000 after a long period, adding that complaints about poor returns were often met with advice to wait for the market to rise.
According to him, investors could also be reminded that their money was meant to be a “LONG TIME investment.”
Sani likened the experience to gambling and suggested that Nigerians with money to invest should consider putting some of their funds into productive enterprises.
“Everything looks like the gambling machine. If you have money to invest, please set up a small factory,” he said.
Precise Post recalls that his remarks came amid heightened public interest in Nigeria’s capital market following the ongoing public offering of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.
The Dangote refinery’s public offer, which opened on September 14, involves 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at ₦525 each, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, or ₦5,250. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.
The offer is seeking to raise about ₦2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion), making it Africa’s largest initial public offering, with the proceeds expected to support the refinery’s planned expansion.
The share sale has generated significant interest among retail investors, with reports that demand overwhelmed some digital investment platforms shortly after the offer opened. Reuters reported that platforms including Bamboo, Cowrywise and InvestNaija experienced outages as investor traffic surged.
The refinery has also attracted attention because of its reported financial performance. Reuters reported that it recorded a net profit of $1.82 billion in the first half of 2026, compared with a loss of $476 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.
However, the official Dangote IPO information warns prospective investors that share investments carry risks, that share values can rise or fall, and that dividends are not guaranteed because they depend on factors including company performance, cash requirements and board decisions.
Sani’s comments therefore come at a time when the Dangote offer has renewed public attention on the opportunities and risks of investing in Nigerian equities, particularly among retail investors entering the market through a high-profile public offer.
