Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has denied claims that it gave President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was then the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress N500 million new naira notes for funding elections.
The denial comes after a viral social media post alleged that the bank gave Tinubu the money on the eve of the presidential and national assembly election.
A Twitter user, @ifygold21, had earlier posted that the bank gave the sum on 24 February, on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari.
But in a statement posted on its social media verified pages on Tuesday, the bank refuted the report, describing the sponsors of the post as uninformed and malicious.
It added that the name of its managing director is Miriam Olusanya and not Segun Agbaje, as posted by the post’s sponsor.
GTB statement reads: “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 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″.
GTB also said their preliminary findings showed that the post was made using a faceless bot account thought to be operated by unscrupulous person intent on propagating falsehood and inciting well-meaning Nigerians to their malicious ends.
This attack, the bank said, is clearly unwarranted and poses a serious threat to their continuing operations, with incalculable risks to lives and property.
GTB statement 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.
“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”.
See the bank post below:
🚨Important Notice🚨
Our attention 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 N500 million to one of the presidential candidates in the ongoing General Elections on the eve of the elections..1 pic.twitter.com/FuFBsIHVp7
— Guaranty Trust (@gtbank) February 28, 2023
