Zenith Bank reportedly denies funding Fayose's election

Zenith bank Plc has dissociated itself from the Ekitigate saga involving the Ekiti State Governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose and other People's Democratic Party chieftains, according to the Leadership.

It would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission restricted the personal bank accounts of Fayose over strong allegations of money laundering which the politician has since denied and termed as political witchhunt.

Reports have it that Fayose received some ungodly amounts of money from the Office of the National Security Adviser to prosecute his 2014 gubernatorial election.

Fayose alleged that his 2014 governorship election campaign was funded by Zenith Bank but weeks later, the bank has rebuffed the claim saying it never funded the election of any politician.

The bank, which had remained quiet over the issue, yesterday issued a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Victor Edoji and made available on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange saying “Zenith Bank did not fund the governorship election of Ekiti state or indeed any other election in the country.

Zenith Bank in the statement issued however explained  that it was never a party to the EFCC investigation regarding the account of the governor of Ekiti state. “The EFCC wrote to the bank in the course of its investigation to make enquiries and also directed that the bank temporarily suspend operations on the account pending conclusion of investigations, which the bank complied with.

“As a policy, the bank does not make political donation or fund any political association or party. The bank’s only branch in Ekiti state predates the assumption of office of the current administration.

“Moreover, the bank does not hold any business account of Ekiti state till date. There was therefore no incentive to fund the election as alleged. Zenith bank management would like to reassure and state that it will continue to conduct its business in line with best practices and extant banking laws and regulations,” the bank explained.