Stakeholders and financial industry experts have reacted to the series of allegations against Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc by a civic organisation- Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN), which on Friday, September 4, 2024, published a Private Investigative Report alleging “unscrupulous, unethical and criminal activities” against Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, the flagship subsidiary of the GTCO group.
The report, signed by Edwin Omaga, President of GICN has been the subject of a video that has gone viral on the social media showing the leadership of GICN in a press conference on the subject matter. Omaga was shown in the video highlighting damning allegations of corporate misconducts against the bank and executive management of the group, thereby attracting mixed reactions from various stakeholders.
Reacting, GTCO had in a statement to the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Monday urged shareholders and other stakeholders to ignore the allegations, describing the report as false, peddled against its business activities, financials and executive management on social media.
The statement by Erhi Ebebeduo, GTCO’s Group General Counsel/Company Secretary, said the report contained “baseless allegations,” which were part of attempts “by certain groups to create a false narrative about the GTCO brand and its management.”
The statement said swift legal actions have been taken against the various sources of the false reports “and will use continue to use the full extent of the rule of law available to safeguard its reputation.”
GTCO assured that its “executive management team continues to operate in their full capacities as appointed and are not under any financial or regulatory scrutiny as alleged.
“We urge all our Customers, Shareholders and Stakeholders to kindly disregard all the allegations being peddled through various media platforms and handles. All of our Executive Management team continue to operate in their full capacities as appointed, and are not under any financial or regulatory scrutiny as alleged,” the statement reads.
An online newspaper TheWillNews quoted investment expert and chairman, Trusted Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Mukhtar Mukhtar as condemning the development as a calculated attempt by the GICN group to pull down one of Nigeria’s major financial services institutions.
He lamented what he described as deliberate efforts by some unnamed persons to pull down an institution like GT Bank without considering the consequences, including job losses, negative impact on investors’ assets and depositors’ funds as well as the support to the economy through granting loans and advances to customers.
“GT Bank is one of the strongest new generation banks. It has been making profits over the years and paying dividends to the shareholders, providing employment to Nigerians and giving value to investors. Much as I would not condone wrongdoing, I do not believe that a reputable institution would descend so low to dabble in such wrongdoings it is being accused of,” he said.
Continuing, , Mukhtar stressed that “There are better ways of approaching a matter like this, such as petitioning the various regulatory bodies instead of coming to the media to malign a reputable institution like GT Bank.”
On his part, National Co-ordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, lambasted the accusing group of wrongfully playing the role of the regulator, reminding all that banking is a highly regulated sector. He expressed confidence that no such misdemeanor could happen in a financial services institution without being detected.
“I watched the press conference online. I do not believe the allegations. Who is the group making the allegation? Are they the regulators of the industry? You don’t call a press conference to malign an institution. It is uncalled for; I do not believe in the rumours being spread by those people and I urge the public not to believe them, either.
“The CBN is there, the NDIC, the Financial Reporting Council – are all there. If a customer has a complaint, he knows where to take it to. And that will be resolved. GT Bank is a strategic and important institution in the financial services industry and should not be maligned for any reason,” Okezie told THEWILL by telephone.
In his reaction, Dr Paul Uzum, a stockbroker and investment expert urged Nigerians to dispel the rumour being spread against GT Bank. He told THEWILL via telephone that GT Bank is a very strong and strategic bank that cannot be associated with the allegations being peddled by the accusing group.
He said, ‘GT Bank is one of the strategically cut-out banks. If anything happens to GT Bank, the market is gone because we do not have many of its kind in the industry. How many companies do we have like that? They are one of the flagships in the market and cannot be pushed over in terms of performance and corporate governance. The story must have been sponsored by an aggrieved party, but that is not the right way to go about it.”
Sam Ndata, an investment expert and Doyen of the Stockbrokers urged Nigerians and others not to rush into believing the allegations without proof because that would be injurious to the corporate image of GT Bank
GTCO reported an impressive result in its H1 2024 performance. It posted a profit before tax of N1.004 trillion, becoming the first Nigerian financial institution to cross the N1trillion mark in profit. This milestone figure represents an increase of 206.6% over N327.4billion recorded in the corresponding period ended June 2023.
The Group’s loan book (net) Increased by 25.5% from N8trillion recorded as at December 2023 to N3.11trillion in June 2024, while deposit liabilities grew by 39.8% from N7.55trillion in December 2023 to N10.55trillion in June 2024.
