CRISIS BREWS IN ACCESS BANK AS WIGWE’S COUSIN TEAMS UP WITH SHAREHOLDERS TO PLOT AIG-IMOUKUEDE’S REMOVAL AS CHAIRMAN

A monumental crisis has reared its ugly head in one of Nigeria’s commercial banks, Access Bank which has snowballed into two legal tussles in which N1.05 trillion is being demanded from the company.

One of the cases followed a letter dated March 29, 2025, from IPL, acting on behalf of certain minority shareholders of Access Holdings Plc, that include; Mr. Iheanyi Wigwe (a cousin to late Herbert Wigwe), Dr. Donatus Ogu, Mr. Chukwuma Chukwurah, and Prof. Bond Anyaehie as allegations were levied based on breaches of corporate governance and conflicts of interest involving Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN, and Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

Following the death of Herbert Wigwe, who was the CEO of ACCESS Holdings Plc, Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede was recalled and made Chairman of the company.

According to MoneyCentral, these allegations by the minority shareholders and Wigwe’s cousin pertain to matters relating to the shares of the late Herbert Wigwe, and the conduct of Access Holdings Plc in connection with the rights issue undertaken following his death, as well as the administration of his estate.

Based on this development, the minority shareholders are demanding the immediate sack of Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede as Chairman of Access Holdings Plc and the suspension of Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN, as Chairman of Access Bank Plc.

As a means of resolving the crisis, the Board of Directors while responding too the letter, resolved that an external legal opinion should be obtained.

Accordingly, pursuant to the option of a Legal Opinion from an external solicitor, Access Holdings Plc engaged the services of Olaniwun Ajayi LP to commence legal proceedings against the named minority shareholders, seeking injunctive relief to restrain them from interfering with the management and operations of Access Holdings Plc.

The management further moved and assessed the potential financial impact of the claims and based on legal advice that it is not possible to reliably estimate the timing or amount of any potential outflow of resources that may arise from the legal proceedings.

Consequently, no provision has so far been recognized in the financial statements as of the reporting date.

However, the plaintiffs in another legal case (2022), claimed ownership of the trademark and copyright to the literary work titled “AFRICAN FILMS FESTIVAL” and alleged that African International Films Festival Limited (“AFRIFF”) violated their rights by organising events under the name “African International Films Festival” without their permission.

The plaintiffs asserted that their trademark “African Film Festival” has been registered since 2003.

Access Holding Plc in its defence as a co-defendant to the respondent, refuted the claims by the plaintiffs, saying that it only made a donation to AFRIFF as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, thus was not involved in any trademark violation.

Attempts  to get the official reaction from Olakunle Aderinokun, Head of Media and Public Relations of Access Bank, were not successful.

Culled from forefront.ng