GTB Addresses Rumour of Shutting Down, Speaks on Claim FG Asked Civil Servants to Close Account
- The federal government has not issued any directives requiring civil servants to move their Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) salary accounts to another bank
- The clarification came in response to a report alleging that GTB is facing serious issues and may be at risk of closure
- Cornelius Onuoha, GTB's spokesperson, described the allegation as "completely untrue" in a brief interview
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
FG has clarified that it didn’t give any order to transfer civil servants' salary accounts from GTB to another banking institution.
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It said this in response to a viral WhatsApp message that read:
“Please let’s all take note, seems GTB now has serious problems and may be shut down any moment from now. Anyone that has money in the bank should do the needful.”
The message had emanated from a media report with the headline ‘FG gives civil servants two weeks ultimatum to move their salary account from GTB to another bank’.
The media outlet has, however, deleted the report.
GTB clears air
Addressing, GTB's spokesperson, Cornelius Onuoha, called the report "completely untrue" in an interview with TheCable.
“It is a totally false story. The federal government has also commented about it. These same set of people are looking for ways to blackmail the bank since it declared a N1 trillion profit,” Onouha said.
Additionally, Bawa Mokwa, director of press and public relations in the federation's accountant general's office, refuted the report in a statement dated November 4.
Mokwa claimed that government employees had not received any directive to change the financial institutions associated with their salary accounts in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.
According to the OAGF, the IPPIS office has not issued any general orders to this effect because there is no basis for such a directive, and any request to switch salary accounts is still up to the individual employee.
“The OAGF explained that whenever there is an application for change of salary account, such is always a personal decision of the worker concerned. The IPPIS Office has not issued any general directive to this effect as there was no reason to do so,” Mokwa said.
“The OAGF tasked financial institutions to implement necessary strategies to boost customers’ confidence and guarantee efficient fulfillment of their obligations to persons whose salaries are domiciled in such financial institutions and Nigerians in general.
“The OAGF noted that there are agencies that are statutorily mandated to determine the health as well as viability of financial institutions and expressed optimism that those agencies are up to their tasks.”
Additionally, the OAGF recommended employees who might have good cause to modify their salary accounts on the IPPIS platform to adhere to the formal protocols.
GTBank completes system upgrade
Legit.ng earlier reported that Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has fully transitioned to a new banking application systems suite.
The bank announced the completion of the transition in a message to customers.
The transition affected customers' use of digital channels for transactions and delayed the reopening of GTBank's branches on Monday, October 14.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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