Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has issued a statement to deny the allegation that it gave N500 million new naira notes to any presidential candidate in Saturday’s election.
The allegation was made by a Twitter user, @ifygold21, who claimed that the bank delivered the money to a presidential candidate on Friday following an order from President Muhammadu Buhari.
The tweet went viral with over 6,000 retweets and 14,000 likes as of Wednesday.
However, GTBank said the allegation was “completely false” and aimed at tarnishing its reputation and that of its officers.
The bank also pointed out that the tweet erroneously referred to Segun Agbaje as its managing director, whereas Miriam Olusanya had taken over the position since August 2021.
In a statement signed by its Corporate Communications Manager, Oyinade Adegite, the bank said:
“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 this content as uninformed and malicious. Accordingly, we would like to clarify that Miriam Olusanya is managing director of our bank and has been at helm affairs since her appointment in August 2021.
“Our preliminary findings show that this post was made using a faceless bot account evidently operated by unscrupulous persons intent on propagating falsehood and inciting well-meaning Nigerians to their malicious ends.
“This is clearly unwarranted and poses serious threat to our continuing operations with incalculable risks to lives and property.”
The bank urged Nigerians to disregard this tweet and any other similar posts as they were baseless and unfounded.
It also warned that it would take legal action against anyone who continued to spread such false information about its operations.
The bank added that it was committed to conducting its business in line with highest ethical standards and in compliance with all applicable laws regulations.
It also reaffirmed its support for Nigeria’s democracy and respect for all candidates parties participating in elections.
It advised Nigerians exercise their civic rights peacefully responsibly.
