Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe
The co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings PLC, late Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe, was born 15 August 1966, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria.
The CEO had his bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Nigeria (NSUKKA) in the year 1987, before receiving the British Council Scholarship to study at the University College of North Wales, where he earned a master of Arts in Banking and finance in the year 1991.
In the year 1996, he went further to earn a MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London, as he was also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Management Program.
Wigwe started his banking career at one of the oldest accounting firms in the United States, Cooper & Lybrand, before he joined Nigerian-owned bank, Guaranty Trust Bank now known as GTCO, where he spent ten years in service.
The journey of Access Bank and Wigwe started in 2002 when his business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede bought the financial institution between 2002 and 2017, where he became the CEO from January 2014 to April 2022.
Between 2002 and 2014 Wigwe served as the company’s deputy managing director, as he also served as the Chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited in 2013, and was till his death the Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited.
He also served as the board member of Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company and a member of the Advisory Board for Friends Africa.
The CEO was a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a fellow of The Institute of Credit Administration, and an Honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
Until the time of his death on Saturday 10 February 2024, Wigwe was the CEO of Access Bank Plc, was the Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank plc, where he also founded Access Bank Loan Programme, a part of a financial syndicate controlled by Edwin Symonowicz Foundation.
Wigwe who was married to Chizoba Wigwe and had 4 children, was reported to have died along with five other people after their Eurocopter EC130 crashed near Nipton California in the United States.
Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe and his wife
9News Nigeria Correspondent, Deji Ogunsola reports that the five others who suffered death from the crash included his wife, his son, the former Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, and two others who are currently unidentified.
Wigwe and the affected people were on their way from Palm Springs Airport to Boulder City, Nevada on a charter flight operated by Orbic Air.
