Nigeria’s highest paying listed companies collectively paid N42.6 billion in total directors’ emoluments in 2025, as executive compensation across the country’s corporate sector continued to climb. Of that sum, the highest paid director across each of the ten companies together accounted for N13.78 billion, nearly a third of the total.

The data, compiled by the Nairametrics Research Team from the latest audited financial statements, covers ten companies from sectors such as energy, telecoms, consumer goods, industrial goods, and financial services. Seplat Energy and MTN Nigeria received the largest shares, with Seplat’s highest-paid director earning N4.79 billion alone.

Both BUA Cement and Guinness Nigeria did not disclose the compensation of their chairman for 2025 and are noted accordingly. The ten companies discussed in this article were selected based on the highest-paid directors.

Executive pay at Nigeria’s top listed companies reflects a widening gap between the highest and lowest earning boards, with the top five companies accounting for the bulk of the N42.6 billion in total board emoluments paid in 2025.

• Seplat Energy recorded the highest director pay across all metrics. Its top director earned N4.79 billion, up 22.76% from N3.91 billion the previous year, while its chairman received N1.39 billion, a 29.75% drop. The total emoluments for Seplat’s 14 directors during the year amounted to N16.00 billion.
• MTN Nigeria’s highest-paid director earned N2.91 billion, a 7.52% decline, making it the only company among the top five to experience a decrease in director pay. MTN’s chairman received N94 million, with total emoluments for its board being N6.08 billion.
• Dangote Cement’s top director earned N1.66 billion, a 4.80% increase, while its chairman saw the steepest rise in chairman pay, increasing 135.09% to N268 million. Total emoluments for Dangote Cement across 14 directors were N4.58 billion.
• Nigerian Breweries paid N1.29 billion to its highest-paid director, a 12.50% increase from N1.14 billion in 2024, with its chairman receiving N33.79 million, up 39.28% from N24.26 million, disbursing N2.62 billion in total across 13 members of the board during the year.
• Nestlé Nigeria’s top director earned N874.22 million, up 5.20% from N830.99 million, with chairman pay jumping 81.51% to N39.75 million and total emoluments of N1.60 billion across 11 directors.

The remaining five companies saw considerably lower director pay, though they experienced both the sharpest year-on-year increases and declines in top director compensation.