Bashir El-Rufai, the brother of Bello El-Rufai who chairs the House of Representatives committee on banking regulations, has advised Nigerians to buy shares from Zenith Bank, stoking rumours of insider trading, which runs afoul of several government laws and policies.

On Friday afternoon, Mr Bashir asked his tens of thousands of X followers to “buy Zenith Bank shares” in an unsolicited “friendly advice” that stirred worries of insider trading among Nigerians, especially given Mr Bashir’s bloodties to Mr Bello who is the current chairman of the House committee on banking regulations.

Did the advice come from a place of privileged financial information or not, was the question on the minds of many netizens who did not hold back in rebuking Mr Bashir for making posts that suggest insider trading.

Nigerians claimed that Mr Bashir was using his brother’s influence as chairman of the House Committee on banking regulations to know non-public information on the bank shares that are profitable to purchase.

Insider trading involves using a company’s non-public information to trade stocks and shares, deemed unfair to investors and non-investors who cannot access the information. It is also considered an illegal act that attracts heavy fines and prison terms in developed nations.

That Mr Bashir, who is not a Zenith Bank employee, was dishing advice to his followers to acquire Zenith Bank shares fanned claims that he might be involved in insider trading.

X user Ibrahim Abdullahi wrote, “This can even be classified as insider trading somewhere.”

Another user, @kinzhal_45 wrote, “Insider trading via this party information is a crime in many countries.”

“Your brother, Bello el-Rufai, is the chairman of the house committee on banking regulations. Do you know what the hell you’re doing,” user @Adewunmi queried. “From the tax guy to this dude, it appears Nigerians don’t understand conflict of interest. Or they’re just lawless.”

“You guess is as good as mine. Low budget insider trading,” reads a post by Ternenge Ikpaahindi, while @NM_Alchemy tweeted, “I think it’s more of insider information.

House of Representatives spokesperson Akin Rotimi told Peoples Gazette that Mr Bello “does not regulate commercial banks” and that his brother Mr Bashir is a private citizen who “is free to express personal financial views.”

Mr Rotimi described claims of insider training and “access to non-public information through his brother are baseless.”

“Rep. Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, as Chair of the House Committee on Banking Regulations, upholds the highest standards of integrity.

“It is important to clarify that, in this capacity, he does not regulate commercial banks. The Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Ancillary Institutions, which has oversight of commercial banks, is Rep. Eze Nwachukwu Eze.

“Citizen Bashir El-Rufai, as a private individual, is free to express personal financial views. Claims of access to non-public information through his brother are baseless.

“We encourage the media to report verified facts rather than unfounded speculations,” he said.