Ownership Concentration and Dividend Policy in Listed Agribusiness Firms in Benue State

This study examines the relationship between ownership concentration and dividend policy in listed agribusiness firms with operations in Benue State, Nigeria. Dividend policy decisions are central to corporate governance because they directly affect the welfare of shareholders and signal management's assessment of firm performance. In concentrated ownership structures, dominant shareholders may exercise disproportionate influence over dividend decisions, potentially at the expense of minority investors. Benue State, known for its agricultural significance, hosts several agribusiness firms whose governance structures merit empirical examination. The study adopts an ex-post facto research design, drawing on five years of secondary data from annual reports of selected agribusiness companies. Ownership concentration is measured using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index applied to shareholding data, while dividend payout ratio serves as the dependent variable. Panel data regression is employed, controlling for profitability, firm size, and leverage. The study expects to find that higher ownership concentration is negatively associated with dividend payout, consistent with the expropriation hypothesis. Findings will offer practical insights for minority shareholders, capital market regulators, and policymakers in the North Central geopolitical zone concerned with investor protection. This research extends the governance literature into agribusiness, a sector with growing relevance to Nigeria's economic diversification agenda. Keywords: ownership concentration, dividend policy, agribusiness, corporate governance, Benue State.