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Muyiwa Popoola, a professor and former deputy vice-chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, has petitioned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the fraudulent withdrawal of N9.98 million from his Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account.
On 21 February, Mr Popoola, through his legal team, petitioned the GTB branch manager in Oyo State, alleging that the withdrawals were made the same day without his knowledge or authorisation.
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He said that the withdrawals were carried out twice from his GTB account within two minutes
According to him, N4,990,000 was first transferred to an account belonging to Isah Ahmed Ahmed on Paga at 10:19 a.m., before a second transfer of N4,990,000 was allegedly made at 10:21 a.m. to Nasir Nasir Sanusi, also linked to an account on the same platform.
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“Our client categorically denies authorising the transactions and holds the bank responsible for the unauthorised debits which occurred within its banking infrastructure and security framework,” the petition, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, said.
His legal team maintained that at no time did the professor compromise his Personal Identification Number (PIN), token, or any other security information associated with the account.
The solicitors maintained that the GTB owed the professor a duty to safeguard his funds and to prevent unauthorised access to his account.
In the petition, which GTB acknowledged three days later, the professor asked the bank to immediately reverse the N9.98 million withdrawn from his account within seven days or face legal action.
What GTB said
In a response, the GTB, in a letter dated 11 March, claimed that the two transactions were authenticated using the professor’s login credentials, including his User ID, password and PIN.
“Our investigation revealed no infraction on the part of the Bank, given that the said transactions were conducted using your Client’s personal banking details, which are exclusively within his knowledge and possession,” the bank said in the letter jointly signed by two members of its legal team.
It, however, said upon receipt of the professor’s complaint via the petition, the bank restricted the account and escalated the transactions to the beneficiaries’ accounts to salvage any available funds.
“However, we received feedback from VFD MFB and Opay that the funds had been utilised to purchase cryptocurrency, while Moniepoint reported that the funds were transferred to PalmPay.
“We also engaged PAGA to notify its customer and attempt a reversal of the funds,” the bank stated.
Petition to the CBN
In the petition to the CBN dated 26 March, the professor, through his legal team, argued that the GTB’s position was “untenable, legally indefensible, and contrary to established banking obligations.”
He contended that the GTB owed him a strict duty to safeguard his funds and ensure that its electronic banking systems are secure and capable of detecting suspicious transactions.
According to him, the execution of two-value transactions within two minutes, transfer to new or unusual beneficiaries, and near-identical transactions were among the red flags that ought to have forced the bank to stop the transactions.
“The failure of the bank’s systems to flag, halt, or verify these transactions constitutes a clear breach of its duty of care,” he stated.
The professor further contended that the GTB’s reliance on use of login credentials and PIN was misplaced and insufficient, pointing out that there is no evidence that he was negligent with his login details.
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His legal team asked the CBN to direct GTB to immediately refund the N9, 980,000.00 to him, investigate the bank’s system and handling of the incident.
They also appealed to the regulatory bank to determine and impose appropriate sanctions and remedial measures on the GTB as well mandate the bank to provide a detailed forensic report on how the breach occurred.
“The conduct of GTBank raises serious concerns under the CBN Consumer Protection Framework, applicable Risk-Based Cybersecurity Guidelines and the bank’s obligation to maintain robust internal controls and fraud prevention mechanisms,” they said in the petition.
“This matter is a clear case of systemic failure on the part of the Bank, which has unjustly shifted the burden of its own lapses onto an innocent customer.”
