Keystone Bank says the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has no plans to withdraw its licence.

On Tuesday, Hassan Imam, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Keystone Bank, said the clarification became necessary due to the constant spread of fake news, especially on social media platforms like WhatsApp.

In June, the CBN said it has no plans to revoke the licences of Unity, Polaris, and Keystone banks.

Online reports had claimed the apex bank would terminate the licences of the three banks, following the revocation of Heritage Bank’s licence.

Imam said the bank’s retail services remain strong, maintaining second place in the industry rankings and being recognised as the ‘Retail Bank of the Year’ in KPMG’s 2023 report.

“We wish to set the records straight that we are strong and have continued to grow our balance sheet while delivering exceptional value to our stakeholders,” the CEO said.

“We are actively pursuing legal action against those responsible for spreading fake news and are committed to holding them accountable.

“As a bank, we have continued to operate from a position of financial strength, consistently meeting our obligations as well as all regulatory requirements.

“Our retail banking services have also been recognised for excellence, ranking second in the industry according to the KPMG BICX 2023 Report, and the bank emerged as the ‘Retail Bank of the Year’ at the Africa Industrial and Development Conference and Awards 2024.”

Imam said the recent appointment of the board of directors by CBN, made up of experienced bankers and professionals from various fields, has further strengthened their governance structure.

Swift Networks has warned customers against making payments for its services through any Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) payment portal.

The company warned its customers not to use GTB USSD code (737), online banking, mobile banking, and bank transfers.

In a statement on Tuesday, the company encouraged customers to switch to alternative payment methods for an easy and quick experience, as the directive will remain in effect until further notice.

“This serves to inform our Valued customers to immediately discontinue making payments for your SWIFT services through any GT Bank Payment Portal (Including Bank Transfers, USSD Code (737), Online Banking, Mobile Banking etc) – until further notice,” SWIFT said.

“You can also make EASY and QUICK payments for SWIFT Services using any of the following Options:

“SWIFT Online Payment Options: Click https://bit.ly/34xSK9J to view our online payment options including: Quickteller, SWIFT Website, SWIFT App, Other Bank App (Excluding GT Bank), Mobile Banking App, Other USSD Code (Excluding GT Bank).

“(ii) Via Bank Transfer to our Access Bank account with details below: Bank: Access Bank: Account Number: 0041908015 Account Name: SWIFT Networks Limited.”

Swift Networks advised customers to visit www.swiftng.com, contact the company via Whatsapp: 08167002398 or send an email to customercare@swiftng.net.

The company also urged customers to download its app for transactions.

In a similar update, Spectranet advised customers to avoid bank transfers to both Zenith Bank and GTB due to ongoing technical issues.

Spectranet urged customers to use the company’s online payment options for a seamless transaction experience.

“Dear Customer, We encourage you to use our online payment options for your transactions for a smoother experience,” Spectranet said.

“Please avoid bank transfers to Zenith Bank and GTB at this time, as they are currently experiencing issues. Thank you for your understanding!”

On September 29, Zenith Bank informed its customers via various channels that its app would be automatically updated to a new version on October 1.

Following the development, the bank’s customers took to X to complain about their inability to access the financial institution’s mobile app for 48 hours.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has reported power outage in the northeast, northwest and parts of north-central after 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji–Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2 tripped on Tuesday.

In a statement via X by Ndidi Mbah, general manager, public affairs, TCN said the transmission lines tripped around 4:53am “due to a fault”.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reports that its 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines1&2, tripped due to a fault, resulting in a forced power outage affecting the North East, North West and parts of North Central,” the commission said.

“At approximately 4:53 am, the Ugwuaji-Makurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped, and 243 MW on that line was transferred to Line 1 on the same route. At 4:58 am, Line 1 also tripped, resulting in a total loss of 468 MW. By around 5:15 am and 5:17 am, Line 1 and Line 2 were tried, but they all tripped immediately on the same relay indication.

“Following the tripping incidents yesterday, two teams of linesmen were dispatched—one from the Apir Transmission Sub-region and another from the Enugu transmission team—to expedite fault tracing along the 215 km route, which includes 245 transmission towers.

“Throughout yesterday, the Apir team patrolled the line, navigating difficult terrain in search of the fault, reaching as far as the River Benue. They could not locate the cause of the tripping and have continued the fault tracing early this morning.”

‘SIT-AT-HOME DIRECTIVE AFFECTED PATROL’

TCN said a ‘sit-at-home’ directive reportedly by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) affected the commission’s patrol activities.

Several social media posts on Monday suggested that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had ordered south-eastern residents to sit at home on Monday and Tuesday.

“Meanwhile, the patrol team from the Enugu Region of TCN was unable to begin patrols yesterday due to the ‘sit-at-home’ directive in the South East for October 21st and 22nd, 2024,” TCN said.

“This restricted not only the patrol team but also made it difficult to refuel patrol vehicles for the long-distance line trace. However, arrangements were made for security operatives to guide the team, who have now commenced fault tracing this morning.

“Currently, TCN has restored supply to the 132kV transmission line from New Haven to Apir, but the 330kV lines remain out of service, affecting power supply in the northern region. Unfortunately, the TCN Shiroro-Mando transmission line is also down due to security challenges, causing a power outage in the North.”

TCN said challenging terrain, including swamps and rivers, as well as unsafe areas in forests, delayed their search for solutions on Monday.

“We sincerely apologise to the government and electricity consumers in all the affected states and acknowledge that our patrol teams would have continued their search into the night if not for the challenging terrain, which includes swamps and rivers, as well as insecure areas in the forest,” the commission said.

“We reconvened very early this morning with security operatives and have continued the fault tracing to locate and address the cause of the line tripping.”

TCN said the commission is making every effort to trace the cause of the outage to allow their engineers to carry out repairs and restore bulk power supply through both lines.

On Sunday, Sule Abdulaziz, TCN chief executive officer (CEO), said the commission is not to blame for all national grid collapses in the country.

Abdulaziz said system collapse could be caused by generation, transmission, and distribution issues.