Authorities of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) say its attention has been drawn to the Wednesday, May 2, 2018 edition of the FrontPage Africa newspaper banner headline, "LBDI President Defends McGill's Acquisition of huge credit to finance purchase of his new mansion US$200k smelly house loan."

"LBDI wishes to clarify that at no time did the president of the bank defend the acquisition of a huge loan by Mr. Nathaniel McGill, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, to purchase New Mansion," LBDI said in a release.

According to the release, the LBDI president instead defended Minister McGill's right to apply for a loan like any other Liberian. In the same vein, the CEO also indicated that the bank reserved the right to approve or disapprove the request based on terms and conditions applicable.

Furthermore, in a phone interview during a local talk show, the president acknowledged that the bank was in receipt of an application of mortgage loan from Mr. McGill, but noted that said application was being reviewed.

The president further noted that in clarifications on social media, the mortgage loan process for this category of request is a three phase process, which originates with the credit department, the bank's management for review and the Board of Directors for final approval.

In the case of Mr. McGill, who is a politically exposed person (PEP), "his application for our mortgage would require full approval of the Board of Directors of LBDI."

The bank wishes to state for the record that it is well within the rights of all qualified Liberians as is with the case of Minister McGill to make a request to the LBDI for a mortgage loan, which is repayable within a period of up to 10 years.

The management assures the media and the general public that the process of granting loans at LBDI is fully documented and transparent, which has nothing to do with an individual's status.