Meets The New Acting CEO Access Bank, Bolaji Agbede
Access Bank, a leading bank in Nigeria by assets has appointed Bolaji Agbede, an executive director as Chief Executive Officer in an interim capacity days after the death of Herbert Wigwe.
The appointment was confirmed in a statement by Access Holdings on Tuesday morning.
“The appointment of Agbede is in alignment with our robust succession planning practices,” said Abubakar Jimoh, chairman of Access Holdings, in a statement published on the NGX. “We are strongly convinced that Agbede, being the company’s most senior executive, would provide the much-needed leadership to steer the company towards the attainment of its strategic vision.”
The share price of Access Holdings tumbled 6.26% on Monday following news that Wigwe died along with his wife, son, and three other passengers, including Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), aboard a helicopter identified as a Eurocopter EC130 by the US Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday bound for Las Vegas.
Access Holding (ACCESSCORP) was the highest traded stock on the Nigerian Exchange week.
Access Bank’s announcement of Bolaji Agbede as its Group CEO after the death of founding Group CEO, Herbert Wigwe.
Agbede’s appointment as acting GCEO is subject to regulatory approvals by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Lagos (1990) and a Master of Business Administration degree from Cranfield University in 2002. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management UK and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.
Before this appointment, Agbede spent two years serving as the bank’s most senior founding Executive Director in Business Support. She has spent 21 years at Access Bank, having first joined as the Assistant General Manager, responsible for managing the bank’s portfolio of chemical trading companies.
Agbede is a versatile professional with over 27 years of experience in Human Resources management, customer relationship management, and banking operations. She has a proven record of successful people integration during mergers and acquisitions, culture transformation and execution of corporate strategies. She had formerly served as the bank’s head of Group Human Resources for 12 years between 2010 and 2022. .
She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management UK and Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.
She has attended several renowned leadership and professional development programs including the High-Performance Leadership Programme organised by the IMD and the Strategic Talent Management Programme organised by the London Business School.
She commenced her professional career in Guaranty Trust Bank and served in various capacities including Relationship Manager and Vault Custodian. She diligently distinguished herself and swiftly rose from the grade of Executive Trainee in 1992 to Manager in 2001. Ms. Agbede subsequently served as the Chief Executive Officer of JKG limited in 2003 a business consulting outfit.
Related: Breaking: CEO of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe Dies in Plane Crash in US
Ms. Agbede joined Access Bank in 2003 as an Assistant General Manager and was responsible for managing the Bank’s portfolio of chemical trading companies. She has occupied the role of Head, HR for the Access Bank Group since 2010 wherein she oversees the human capital development of the Group.