By Lydia Ngwakwe
Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB Ltd. said it had contacted Twitter for the identification of the owner of the fake account who published that it gave N500 million new naira notes to one of the presidential candidates in last Saturday’s presidential election.
The bank said this in a statement on Wednesday while emphatically denying the claim that it gave the N500 million to the presidential candidate as published by a Twitter account with the name: @ifygold21.
But the GTB said the claim was not only completely false but was designed to bring the image of the bank and its officers to disrepute.
The bank further noted that the fact that the post referred to Segun Agbaje as its Managing Director further exposed the ignorance of the sponsors of the Twitter account.
“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 it’s 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 Aug. 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,” it said.
The bank said that it had taken the post seriously and had escalated it to all concerned parties including Twitter, for the identification of the owner of the fake account and consequent legal action.
The bank noted that its Nigerian operations supported a diverse customer base with varied business interests in communities across the country and as such, remained available to everyone.
The bank urged its Customers and the banking 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,” it said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
