We didn’t give N500m to any politician, says GTBank on viral social media post

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has denied giving N500 million new notes to any presidential candidate in Saturday’s election.

A Twitter user, @ifygold21, had earlier tweeted that the bank gave the sum to a presidential candidate on Friday due to an order from President Muhammadu Buhari.

The post was retweeted 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 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 statement reads.

“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.”

GTB said that the post has been brought to the attention of all concerned parties including Twitter, for the identification of the owner of the fake account and consequent legal action.

It urged its customers to disregard the 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,” the bank added.