Access Holdings names Acting CEO after Wigwe’s demise

Access Holdings Plc has announced the appointment of Bolaji Agbede as the Acting Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the company.

The appointment follows the death of former Group Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, who died in a helicopter crash in the United States on Friday.

Mr. Wigwe died alongside his wife, son, and a former chairman of the Nigeria Exchange Group, Abimboloa Ogunbanjo.

In a statement by the company’s Board of Directors dated February 12, 2024, the appointment was subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Further to its announcement dated February 11, 2024, the Board of Directors of Access Holdings Plc (‘the Company’) has today announced the appointment of Ms Bolaji Agbede as the Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of the Company following the unfortunate demise of its former Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Herbert Wigwe, on February 9, 2024,” the company said in a statement Monday.

Ms. Agbede joined Access Bank in 2003 as an Assistant General, with nearly three decades of professional experience cutting across banking and business consultancy services.

She served in different capacities at the bank including, Head, Group Human Resources between 2010 and 2022 before she was appointed the company’s founding Executive Director, Business Support, in 2022, a role she held until her new appointment

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Lagos and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Cranfield University UK in 2002, the statement said, adding that she is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management UK and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.

The appointment is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The appointment of Ms. Agbede is in alignment with our robust succession planning practices,” said Abubakar Jimoh, chairman of the company.

“We are strongly convinced that Ms. Agbede, being the company’s most senior executive, with exceptionally rich, professional and leadership experience and understanding of the Access culture, would provide the much-needed leadership to steer the company towards the attainment of its strategic vision of building a globally connected community and ecosystem, inspired by AAfricafor the world.”