New Telegraph Admin 
Unconfirmed reports from the United States indicate that the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, may have died in a helicopter crash near the California-Nevada border.
According to reports, the helicopter crashed on Friday night close to a border city in Nevada, killing five other people on board when it was en route to Las Vegas. As of Saturday morning, according to the New York Times, no survivors had been found, according to the officials.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) disclosed that a helicopter crashed Friday night near Nipton, California, with six people on board. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that no survivor has been found as of Saturday morning.
The FAA identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter EC 130. “We were made aware of a downed aircraft at approximately 10:12 p.m., on February 10, 2024.
The scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road,” the sheriff’s department said. Sunday Telegraph’s efforts to get Access Holdings plc to confirm or deny the reports were not successful.
However, multiple sources reported that Wigwe, his wife, son as well as the former group chairman of the Nigerian Ex- change Group Plc, (NGX group), Abimbola Ogunbajo were in the helicopter when it crashed. Sunday Telegraph gathered that apart from the four children with his wife, Chizoba, Wigwe also had three adopted children.
This newspaper could not con- firm last night which of his children might have been on the ill-fated helicopter. Wigwe was also the founder of Wigwe University and was the Deputy Managing Director of Access Bank from 2022 to 2014 when he became the Group Managing Director and CEO.
Wigwe, who hailed from Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, was a graduate of Accounting from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State. As a banker in Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), he worked with Aigboje Aig- Imoukhuede to acquire Access Bank.
Working with Aig-Imoukhuede, who became the MD of the bank, they grew the bank to a top-tier bank. He succeeded Aig- Imoukhuede as the MD of Access Bank and worked on a vision of transforming the bank into a global bank, a feat he achieved in his life- time.
He not only took the bank beyond the African continent, he expanded it to become a financial coglomerate. In recognition of “his exemplary role in the society and contributions to youth development”, the Boys’ Brigade (BB), inaugurated Herbert Wigwe, as State Patron for Lagos State Council in 2016.
He also served as Chairman of Access Bank (Ghana), Access Investment and Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) and is currently the Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited and Unified Payment Services Limited.
In addition, he was the immediate past Chairman of the Committee of Bank CEOs. In October 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari conferred on him the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
Industry watchers note that Wigwe was not present at the 2024 Access Bank Marathon which was held in Lagos on Saturday.
