New financial disclosures from Access Holdings Plc’s 2024 annual report have revealed the substantial co-owned investment between late banking magnate Herbert Wigwe and his longtime business partner Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, valued at $64.5 million (₦103.6 billion).
The detailed breakdown shows the two banking titans collectively hold 4.82 billion shares in Access Holdings through four corporate entities:
United Alliance Company of Nigeria Ltd: 1.06 billion shares
Trust and Capital Ltd: 1.15 billion shares
Coronation Trustees Tengen Mauritius: 1.97 billion shares
Tengen Holdings Ltd: 641 million shares
These holdings represent one of the most significant co-ownership structures in Nigeria’s banking sector, built over two decades of partnership that transformed Access Bank from a mid-tier institution into a pan-African financial powerhouse.
The annual report further reveals that both executives maintained substantial personal stakes alongside their joint holdings. Herbert Wigwe directly owned 201.2 million shares valued at ₦4.33 billion ($2.7 million), while Aig-Imoukhuede held 178.8 million shares worth ₦3.85 billion ($2.4 million).
With Access Holdings declaring a final dividend of ₦2.05 per share for the 2024 financial year, the jointly owned shares are poised to generate approximately ₦9.9 billion ($6.2 million) in dividend income.
These financial disclosures emerge amid an ongoing legal dispute over Wigwe’s estate. His parents, Shyngle and Christian Wigwe, had petitioned the Lagos High Court to replace the current estate administrators—which include Wigwe’s daughter Otutochi Channel Wigwe, his brother Uche Wigwe, and business partner Aig-Imoukhuede—with new appointees including themselves and professional firms Zedra Trust Company (Isle of Man) and PwC Nigeria.
However, in a ruling on February 6, 2025, Justice A.O. Adeyemi of the Lagos State High Court’s Family/Probate Division dismissed the petition, upholding the original administration structure and dealing a significant setback to the family’s efforts to reconfigure control of the estate.
The court’s decision reinforces the legitimacy of the current estate management and underscores Aig-Imoukhuede’s continued role in preserving the legacy of the financial empire they built together. The detailed shareholding structure revealed in the annual report highlights the deeply intertwined nature of their business partnership and the substantial wealth they created through Access Holdings.
