New revelation has emerged following the death of Access Holdings CEO, Herbert Wigwe who died in a crashed helicopter in US.
The new revelation in a social media post which is presently trending online revealed how Access Bank was initially owned by Ijesha man from Yorubaland and dubiously later acquired by late Wigwe.
The post goes on to describe how the original ownership of Access Bank was diluted through various schemes and mandates from the Central Bank of Nigeria. It alleges that Aig Imokhuede and Herbert Wigwe, who were assistant general managers at GTBank at the time, secretly acquired large shares of Access Bank without the knowledge of major shareholders. They supposedly borrowed money from Intercontinental Bank, which they never paid back.
Once they had secured controlling shares, they allegedly notified the authorities and took over Access Bank, sidelining the original shareholders and changing policies. The post claims that the bank became a “mafia bank” and that all traces of the Ijesa ownership were erased.
The post also mentions the sale of Intercontinental Bank, formerly owned by Yorubas, to Access Bank for a meager amount under questionable circumstances. It suggests that political connections were used to snatch Intercontinental Bank from Dr. Erastus Akingbola, who did not support the PDP party.
The post concludes by highlighting the alleged misfortunes that have befallen those involved in the acquisition and the current legal successes of Dr. Erastus Akingbola against Access Bank.
It’s important to note that these claims in the blog post are unsubstantiated and should be approached with caution. Without concrete evidence or official statements, it is difficult to verify the accuracy of these allegations.
Read details of the post below
Access Bank – Ijesa Bank – that was snatched by political thieves.
Yoruba Historical Society.
February 2024.
Access Bank was started by Ijesas in Lagos in 1988. As seen above, it was licensed to Mr. Abiodun Lawrence Omole, the owner of Trophy Larger beer in Ilesa, and his Ijesa partners. They used one of the partners, Chief Farodoye’s business office address at the Western House in Lagos for registration.
Led by Chief Farodoye, it was a small, solid, and well-run bank, like most Ijesa’s businesses, that uses the ethos – Omoluabi, in conjunction with the traditions of late Ijesa billionaires like Da Rocha, Ajanaku, SB Bakare, Lawrence Omole and so on.
Suddenly, the Acess Bank’s core ownership became diluted by a series of schemes and mandates from CBN.
Tokunbo Aromolaran was the last managing director appointed by the original shareholding group, and at the time, the bank was already listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Using abracadabra, Aig Imokhuede (Sanusi’s Kings College classmate) and Herbert Wigwe, were AGMs at GTBank, yet they formulated a scheme to secretly acquire large shares of the Access Bank without major shareholders knowing.
They borrowed the money from Intercontinental Bank, PLC (They never paid it back). Intercontinental Bank was the foremost bank in Nigeria and was owned by Yorubas, who pioneered Banking in Nigeria.
Upon securing controlling shares, they notified the authorities and took over the Access Bank overnight; thus, the Ijesa Bank was no longer. Once they took it over, it was like a pirate hijacking a ship in the high sea; they quickly changed policies and sidelined the original shareholders. They destroyed Chief Farodoye, who went into Exile in England and ended up working there as a security guard to make ends meet. Another partner, Abiola Ojo, survived the assassination attempt. Access Bank became a mafia bank – the untouchables!
Aig. Imokhuede became the managing director for a decade, and after he retired, Herbert took over. They erased all traces of Ijesas – all Ijesas were forced out from top management positions down to the security guards, all replaced – and it became a bank for the people from the East of River Niger in our land, Lagos (EKo).
In the 1990s and 2000s, I banked with Intercontinental Bank, PLC (IB), a reputable financial institution with banking, investment, and wealth management portfolios—an excellent bank with a solid reputation. My investment portfolio at IB earned higher yields (returns on investments) than my Wall Street portfolio in the USA.
Under Jonathan, banking rules changed. My IB advisor informed me that a small bank had been borrowing large sums of money from IB, and the bank had been unable to say no to this politically connected borrower(s). That IB reserve was getting lower than it should be and advised me to move my investment out of Nigeria because the banking landscape was changing and unpredictable.
I did what he suggested, and shortly after that, they changed the management; they removed 100% of the Yorubas that I had come to know during the years I transacted with IB.
Sanusi of CBN decided to perform a voodoo ‘stress test’ – on the banks without conducting any loan investigation on the IB books. Sanusi noted that IB reserve was low, and he reflexly declared it insolvent and decided to sell it. Guess who showed up to buy it? It was his friends from Access Bank (the bank that borrowed money from IB). He offered it to them at a meager N50 billion. Imagine offering one of Nigeria’s largest banks with 350 branches across West Africa and England for this tiny amount. It was a steal, a giveaway, a daylight open robbery. Check the records; no other bank has been sold so cheaply in Nigeria.
Yoruba will say, Ile taa ba fii Ito mo, Irin lo maa wo. You cannot build something on nothing!
At the time, because Dr. Erastus Akingbola of Intercontinental Bank, PLC, a pioneering professional career banker, did not support PDP, these political thieves descended on him, used their political connections to snatch Intercontinental Bank PLC from him, and sent him into retirement.
However, nature has a way of paying back; call it karma; check out this real-life list below.
1. Emir Sanusi Lamido, was dethroned and banished from Kano Emirate. He was the CBN Governor who mastered the Access Bank and IB scheme deal and sealed it.
2. Dr. Olusola Saraki. The Saraki family Dynasty in Kwara State has crumbled and is in total ruins. He lost large family properties along Glover Road in Ikoyi to the Federal Government. He is now a boy-boy to Nyesom Wike, the PDP strongman.
3. The Late Herbert Wigwe traveled from California to Las Vegas to watch the Superbowl with his family. This story is not about the dead but about setting history records straight. May his soul rest in peace. Wigwe University is now in limbo.
4. The ringleader, Aig. Imougkuede had an eye Glaucoma operation on their left eye and is scheduled for surgery in the other eye soon. He is partially blind and can hardly see.
5. Mr Alabi, the interim managing director, imposed on us by Sanusi Lamido, to confuse us, is down with Stroke in Ilorin. He is in a vegetative state.
Today, Dr. Erastus Akingbola is a 78-year-old, healthy-looking man with a sound mind and spirit, happily living his life, keeping a low profile, and enjoying life with grace and blessings.
In Court, Dr. Akingbola has won his property taken by Access Bank at 999c Danmole Street, in Victoria Island, the IB PLC’s former head office, and the Court has ordered Access Bank to vacate the premises for him immediately. The EFCC has also returned with apologies, multiple estates seized by them along Sinari Daranijo Street, also in Victoria Island.
Lastly, God is the only ultimate judge. Do good, and good things shall follow you in the days of your life – Holy Bible.
The information in this article is a compilation of direct accounts and data from staff from the original Access Bank and Intercontinental Bank, as well as my experience as a client when these political thieves struck.
From the IB staff, the only visible error Dr. Erastus Akingbola made was being apolitical and refusing to fund PDP-led Jonathan back then, and he paid the price. But God is favorable to him now.
Yoruba says: “bi iro ba lo logun odun, ododo aaba loojo.”
Truth will always prevail, but it takes time for the truth to prevail.
