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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.

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.

Beyond boardroom pay, wage and workforce data tell a broader story about how these companies are managing their cost of employees, with sector, scale, and headcount strategy producing sharply different outcomes across the group.

A recent report by Nairametrics highlighted that the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) imposed N562.6 million in penalties on 32 listed companies for delays in filing audited and unaudited financial statements during the 2024/2025 financial year.