The management of Sun Trust Bank yesterday denied reports that it withheld salaries of legislative aides in the National Assembly.
Executive Director for Finance and Risk, Mr. Usman Abdulqadir, made this known at a press briefing in Lagos. Abdulqadir said the bank had executed all mandates given to it with respect to making payment on behalf of its customers promptly.
“In this vein, as banker to some of the NASS accounts, the bank has received the mandate to make payment to various beneficiaries and those payments have since been relayed, some via REMITA, to the relevant banks.
“We advice that persons who are yet to receive payments executed by us should have first checked with his/her bankers to trace where such payments are held.
“We categorically restate that we do not fail to honour any obligation to our clients,” he said.
The executive director said the bank deeply regretted report that an individual lost his life.
“We extend our deepest condolences to his family and the entire NASS family,” he said.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, legislative aides at the National Assembly protested the non-payment of their salaries on Tuesday in Abuja.
The protest was due to the death of one of the legislative aides, Hassan Abiodun, over a ruptured appendicitis because he could not pay N165,000 medical bill for the recommended surgery. The deceased, who died on Friday, June 9, 2017, was a legislative aide attached to the Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Sulaimon Lasun.
The aides, who all dressed in black attire, met Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who is also the chairman of the National Assembly Commission.
Spokesman of the aides, Dayo Fadugba, accused the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Sani Omolori, of having an ulterior motive over his preference for a new bank to pay their salaries.
“From all indications, it is manifest that the bank does not have the capacity and infrastructure to handle the volume of transaction the clerk has foisted on it.
“We are convinced that the decision is motivated by ulterior motive aimed at bolstering the financial standing of the micro finance bank masquerading as a commercial institution,” he said.
Abdulqadir said Sun Trust Bank Nigeria Ltd., is a commercial bank duly licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.