GTBank debunks spurious social media post, says “we didn’t give N500m to any politician”
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has debunked viral social media post which alleged that the bank gave N500 million new notes to a presidential candidate in Saturday’s election following an order from the presidency.
A Twitter user, @ifygold21, had earlier tweeted alleging that the bank gave the sum to a presidential candidate on Friday due to an order from President Muhammadu Buhari.
The post was re-tweeted 6,442 times with 14,500 likes.
But in a statement on Wednesday, GTBank described the claim as “completely false”.
The financial institution said the allegation was aimed at tarnishing the image of the bank and its officers.
The 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.
“Our preliminary findings show that the 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 a serious threat to our continuing operations, with incalculable risks to lives and property. 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 remains available to everyone.
“We urge our Customers and the public to kindly disregard this unsubstantiated claim in its entirety.
“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.
“Thank you for your continued support and trust.”
