March 30, 2019
Mr. Cornel Osigwe, the Head of Corporate Communication of Innoson, has announced that The Chairman of Innoson Group, Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, OFR on behalf of Innoson Nigeria Ltd has taken over Guaranty Trust Bank PLC (gtbank) through a Writ of FiFa.
This announcement is coming after the Supreme Court's decision on February 27th 2019, dismissing GTB’s appeal — SC. 694/2014 — against the judgment of Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.”
In his statement, Mr. Osigwe said "We have taken over GTBank in Awka and Nnewi," Osigwe subsequently announced, adding that "other branches are coming soon".
Meanwhile, GTBank has moved to assure it's customers of the safety of their funds. See statement issued by the bank below;
“The attention of Guaranty Trust Bank PLC ("the Bank") has been drawn to statements circulating in the news and social media in respect of a purported enforcement of a judgement of the Federal High court, Ibadan, Oyo state, at one of its branches in Anambra state,” it said in a statement on Friday night.
“The Bank as a law-abiding corporate citizen is taking all necessary legal steps to address this situation and ensure that no illegal or fraudulent execution is carried out.
“It is important to state that the Judgment allegedly in issue is in respect of a Garnishee Proceedings against the account of the Nigerian Customs Service Board domiciled with the Bank and not against the Bank as an entity.
“The Bank remains committed to providing best-in- class customer experience to all its valued customers."
Recall that the GTBank vs Innoson saga which started in 2009 went public in 2017 after a social media trend by the later to force the bank to comply with court rulings which the bank refused but instead chose to appeal the case. In a judgment delivered by Honourable Olabode Rhodes-Vivour JSC on Wednesday, “the Lord Justices of the Supreme Court (JSC) dismissed GTB’s appeal and thus affirmed the concurrent judgment of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division which ordered GTB by way of Garnishee order absolute – to pay N2.4 Billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment until the final liquidation of the judgment.”
