Experts have hailed the return of Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, to Access Holding Company following the death of his friend and ally, Dr Herbert Wigwe.

Aig-Imoukhuede, a co-founder of Access Bank, was announced as the Non-Executive Chairman on Wednesday, a month after the death of Wigwe in a chopper crash in the US.

He was buried last weekend alongside his wife and son who died in the ill-fated helicopter.

On Wednesday, Access Holdings Plc announced the return of Aig-Imoukhuede, as its Non-Executive Chairman replacing Mr Abubakar Jimoh, the erstwhile chairman of the HoldCo who remains on the board as an independent non-executive director.

The Company Secretary of Access Holdings, Sunday Ekwochi, disclosed this in a notice to the Nigerian Exchange Thursday.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Aig-Imoukhuede, said: “I am thrilled to be back in active service to the Access Group ecosystem. I am confident that working with our directors, our exceptional team of executives and our best-in-class banking and finance professionals, we will deliver outstanding value to our esteemed stakeholders. I am determined that our shared vision which Dr Wigwe gave everything for, will be realized.”

A financial analyst at Augusto, Ayokunle Olubunmi, talking with Daily Trust said, “Access Holdings was incorporated just a few years ago. If you look at that company, it is in its infancy. Unlike the bank which can run on its own, the holding company is very young.

“So obviously, succession planning hasn’t been well thought out. So they actually need somebody who understands the vision of the man (Wigwe). The obvious truth is that the bank and the HoldCo are actually the vision of both Herbert and Aig. So they needed somebody to continue with the work and even ensure that the company is well structured.

“So he was brought back to actually oversee it and even develop the company well and ensure that adequate succession planning is put in place.”

Professor Bongo Adi of the Lagos Business School said, “They would need a good hand to stabilise at this turn of events because the death of Wigwe was sudden. And so definitely a lot of things would be hanging and cloudy because if it was a normal run of things where there was a planned handover.

“He would have prepared his handover note, he would have put everybody in the right perspectives and disclosed all information. It means that there are so many things that went down with him and nobody could ever know.” (Daily Trust)

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