Access Bank Holdings, arguably one of Nigeria’s banking brands is currently in turmoil and confusion over the death of Herbert Wigwe, its Chief Executive Officer in a horrifying helicopter crash on Friday.
ENigeria News reports that Herbert Wigwe died in the ill-fated helicopter crash along with five others on board, including his wife and son around the border city of Nevada and California.
Also caught in the middle of the helicopter crash; who was also in the company of Herbert Wigwe and others is Abimbola Ogunbanjo whose father, Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, was recently interred.
ENigeria News understands that at the time of filing this report, Wigwe who was grooming his son in his line of business, getting him familiarized with the new terrain of his most recent investment (education), was on a business trip to the United States of America when his life and that of others in-flight was suddenly caught short in the unfortunate air mishap which the county sheriff confirmed was indeed fatal and saw no survivors.
Access Bank Counts Losses
Access Bank Holdings counts its losses even as news of its CEO, Herbert Wigwe continues to ravage the country most devastatingly.
Sources within the bank who spoke to ENigeria News on Saturday confirmed that the bank is currently in turmoil and experiencing a quagmire since the news broke.
“Access Bank is already counting its losses since the demise of Herbert and this is not far from the fact that he understands the organization better than anyone.
“Some of the recent achievements of Access Bank are owed to Herbert who has played big in the banking sector, albeit bagging unparalleled experience in his 35 years of practice”, the source said.
Buttressing further on some of the recent losses incurred by the bank, another source within the circle of the deceased said the bank was on the verge of closing some major deals upon the arrival of Wigwe from his trip, but all of those are now going to be put on hold.
“Access Bank was on the verge of among others, closing a major deal with the Ministry of Aviation valued at several billions of naira upon the return of Wigwe, but I’m afraid all that may be far from reality now that he is gone.
“More demoralizing is the thought that since he took over the headship of the bank which co-founded with his friend Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, his visionary leadership accelerated its growth trajectory and solidified the bank’s position as a global financial powerhouse. Wigwe’s strategic decisions and commitment to excellence propelled the bank to expand its operations across Africa and beyond”.
“Wigwe is indeed the brain behind some of the major transformations in the bank, and now that he is no more, the show must go on, but the fact remains that confusion has already set in among the board, as no one appears to be exactly equipped enough to step into his big shoes”, the source told ENigeria News.
At the time of his death, Herbert was 57 years old. The Isiokpo, Rivers State consummate banker and philanthropist who was born in the city of Ibadan, Oyo State, was married to Doreen Chizoba Wigwe, and together they had 4 children.
More on this shortly…
Source: ENigeria News
