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N14bn debt: GT Bank refutes claims by Innoson Motors

Published

6 years ago

June 8, 2018

Olu Emmanuel

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By Odunewu Segun

The management of Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) has issued a statement refuting the claim by Innoson Motors Nigeria Limited that the Supreme Court of Nigeria ordered it to pay one of its “debtor customers” the sum of ₦14 billion in 14 days.

GTBank did not mention Innoson by name, neither did it mention the ₦14 billion in the press statement.

In the statement which was issued to the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, GTBank stated that the widely-circulated news stemmed from “a false, malicious and mischievous” reporting of court proceedings.

The bank, therefore, urged its customers to “disregard these false statements” because they are supposedly untrue. In specific terms, the bank refuted the claim by Innoson Motors Nigeria Limited, categorically stating that the Supreme Court never gave any such injunction as was claimed by the automaker.

“The attention OF Guaranty Trust Bank (“the bank”) has been drawn to false, mischievous, and malicious statements circulating in the news and Social Media in respect to a purported directive by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the Bank to make payments to one of its debtor customers.

“There was no directive or order issued by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the bank to make any payment to any of its debtor customers.” -GTBank

The strongly-worded press statement went on to state that the bank will not be making further comments regarding the ongoing court case, even as the bank remains resolved to “using legal means to recover its bad debts.”

On Thursday, Innoson Ltd tweeted that the Supreme Court of Nigeria struck off the ‘motion for stay’ filed by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) while ordering it to pay the sum of ₦14 billion to Innoson Motors’ CEO in the next 14 days.

Expectedly some of our visitors have inquired to know just how this might affect the share price of GT Bank assuming this judgment is true. A judgment claim of about N14 billion is a lot of money for most banks and if it is to be paid, it could have a negative impact on the company’s share price and dividend payout.