By Modupe Gbadeyanka
First Bank has reacted to media reports that its officials forged signatures of late Arisekola Alao and that of his son, Ismaila, on the Deed of Guarantee of Lister Oil limited, owed by the late businessman.
The bank, in a statement, described the reports as not only false, but a deliberate attempt to tint the facts.
First Bank said “to set the record straight and for public Information, we categorically state that the allegation is untrue, spurious and deliberate attempt at the discoloration of facts.”
It went on to say, “It is pertinent to state that the Bank and the late Arisekola-Alao family are currently engaged in a protracted legal matter in respect to a recovery process over a debt owed the Bank, and the forgery claim in the media now seems the new trend being employed by the Bank’s debtors to scuttle recovery process.
First Bank said in the statement that it “reiterates that the forgery allegation is untrue, spurious and calculated for mischief.”
It urged the public to disregard the allegations.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale