Access Bank, one of Nigeria's largest banks, has appointed a temporary replacement for CEO Herbert Wigwe, who died alongside five others in a helicopter crash last Friday.
Bolaji Agbede, Access Bank's most senior founding executive director, will assume the CEO position in acting capacity, the bank's parent company, Access Holdings Plc, announced in a statement.
Ms Agbede joined Access Bank in 2003 and has nearly 30 years of experience in banking and business consultancy, the company said.
In a statement, Abubakar Jimoh, chair of Access Holdings, said: “The appointment of Bolaji Agbede is in alignment with our robust succession planning practices. We are strongly convinced that with her being the company’s most senior executive would provide the much-needed leadership to steer the company towards the attainment of its strategic vision.”
Wigwe's chartered helicopter was on its way from Palm Springs to Boulder City in Nevada in the US when it went down, about 96km (60 miles) from Las Vegas.
According to Nigerian media, the 57-year-old banker was on his way to Las Vegas to attend Sunday's Super Bowl. Wigwe founded Access Bank in 1989. It became the largest bank in Nigeria in 2018 after it acquired its main competitor, Diamond Bank.
The share price of Access Holdings tumbled 6.26% following the news of Wigwe’s death along with his wife, son, and three other passengers, including Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chair of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), aboard a helicopter identified as a Eurocopter EC130 by the US Federal Aviation Administration which was bound for Las Vegas.
Access Holding (ACCESSCORP) was the highest traded stock on the Nigerian Exchange week.
