Ownership allegation: PremiumTrust Bank reacts

Premium Trust Bank has described as malicious and false, reports on the social media that the Executive Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa owns the bank.

In a statement by the bank, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa nor any of his associates are never shareholders or directors in Premium Trust Bank whether directly or indirectly.

“For the records, Premium Trust Bank was founded by our MD/CEO, Emmanuel Emefienim (an accomplished Banker with over 30 years top level experience) alongside seasoned and well diversified entrepreneurs who have distinguished themselves in various fields and endeavors. Please note that information on ownership and directorship of our Bank is in the public domain and available on our website (www.premiumtrustbank.com).

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“On the 19th of February 2023, one Ortega Oghenedoro a.k.a Fejiro Oliver posted on his twitter handle that PremiumTrust Bank was floated with Delta State funds of N850 billion. We also noted that this has been reposted and circulated on several other social media platforms.

“This misleading and misguided statement clearly has no basis or iota of truth in it, as Delta State Government does not have any ownership interest in our Bank.

Re: Movement of $3.2million and N2billion Cash to Government House, Asaba in the same mischievous post, Ortega Oghenedoro alleged in his tweet (via his twitter handle: @fejirooliver86) as reproduced below;

“Around 7:45am this morning, six bullion vans escorted by the military carried N2billion cash in the new currency notes and $3.2 million dollars straight to meet the PDP Vice Presidential candidate, Gov@iaokowa.  They took the money from his Premium Trust Bank to Govt House”

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“This is the height of falsehood as it is impracticable for such cash movements to have been made by our Bank.

“For the avoidance of doubt, total monies in old and new notes allotted by CBN in eleven instalments to our Asaba Branch from December 20, 2022 to date is less than N470million. All of the monies received are dispensed via our Six (6) ATMs at Asaba Branch and across the counter in line with the CBN Policy.

“It is pertinent to note that cash disbursement reports are rendered daily to CBN for monitoring and compliance. These false allegations are therefore baseless and lack substance.

“In view of all of the above, it is obvious that there is a clear intent by Ortega Oghenedoro and his associates to tarnish the image of the Bank at a time when the bank has been enjoying excellent media reviews and customers’ positive testimonials in respect of its implementation of the CBN cash swap and re-design policy.

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“However, we wish to clearly state that despite the falsehoods and campaigns of calumny against our brand, the public has continued to applaud our commitment to the implementation of the CBN Policy, which has led to a significant increase in customer acquisition.

“It is a well-known fact that in all of our branches, ATMs have continuously dispensed new currency notes on a 24/7 basis; we have also continued to make over-the-counter payments to the general public in line with CBN guidelines.

“Considering the intended damage of these allegations to the PremiumTrust brand, we have engaged our team of lawyers to seek necessary redress and remedies against peddlers of these false and malicious accusations.

PremiumTrust Bank was licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in December 2021 to operate as a Commercial Bank in Nigeria, but officially opened for business in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State on the 19th of April 2022. Two (2) other branches were opened in quick succession in line with the Bank’s branch expansion strategy.