The management of Guaranty Trust Bank says it did not give the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, 500 million Naira new notes on the eve of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
This is coming on a day that Nigerians are noticing different reactions trailing the proclamation of the APC candidate winner of the election.
Indeed, Nigerians are still suffering the effect of the new Naira notes policy that forced the nation into scarcity of both old and new notes.
Countless protest have been recorded in various parts of the country over the Naira scarcity.
Banks were burnt, properties destroyed and deaths were recorded, as angry Nigerians expressed their dissatisfaction with the outcome of the policy.
However, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and President Buhari had called for calm in the country.
Both pleaded with Nigerians to bear with the government and swallow negative burden.
Also, they believe protests would swallow the purpose of the Naira policy.
They promised Nigerians that the CBN policy will help the government battle corruption and will also end votes buying.
GTBank And The ₦500 million Allegation
A Twitter user, @ifygold21 accuses the bank of giving ₦500 million to the former Governor of Lagos State on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari.
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But in a statement on its Twitter page on Tuesday, GTBank says the claim is false and baseless, describing the sponsors of the post as uninformed and malicious.
The bank also urged its customers to disregard the unsubstantiated claim in its entirety, adding that the name of its managing director is Miriam Olusanya and not Segun Agbaje.
The statement read: “The attention of Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd (the “Bank”) has been drawn to a spurious post on Twitter by @ ifygold21 alleging that the Bank gave the new Naira notes in the total sum of ₦500 million to one of the leading presidential candidates in the ongoing General Elections on the eve of the elections and at the order of a high-ranking Government official.
“The Bank wishes to refute this claim in its entirety and state categorically that it is completely false and is designed to bring the image of the Bank and its officers to disrepute.
“The fact that the post refers to Segun Agbaje as the Managing Director of the Bank further exposes the sponsors of the content as uninformed and malicious.
“Accordingly, we would like to clarify that Miriam Olusanya is the Managing Director of the Bank and has been at the helm of affairs of the Bank in that capacity since her appointment in August 2021″.
A Faceless Bot Account
GTB also said their preliminary findings showed that the post was made using a faceless bot account thought to be operated by an unscrupulous person intent on propagating falsehood and inciting well-meaning Nigerians to their malicious ends.
The bank said the post was clearly unwarranted and posed a serious threat to their continuing operations, with incalculable risks to lives and property.
It added: “This post has been escalated to all concerned parties including Twitter, for the identification of the owner of this fake account and consequent legal action.
“Our Nigerian operations support a diverse customer base with varied business interests in communities across the country and remain available to everyone.
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“Guaranty Trust Bank hereby restates its commitment to being a responsible, non-partisan corporate citizen with strict adherence to the highest standards of global best practice as well as sound corporate governance in all aspects of our business operations”.
