Access Holdings Plc has confirmed the appointment of Innocent Ike as its new Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 29, 2025, following the approval of financial regulators.
The decision brings an end to the 18-month acting tenure of Bolaji Agbede, who assumed leadership of the financial services giant after the sudden death of former CEO Herbert Wigwe in February 2024.
Agbede led the group through the transition marked by regulatory pressures and investor concerns. However, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s stipulation on minimum experience for financial holding company CEOs prevented her confirmation.
She is now expected to resume her role as Executive Director, Business Support.
Announcing the appointment, Access Holdings Chairman Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede praised Agbede for her leadership during the period. “Her contributions have been invaluable in stabilising the organisation and restoring investor confidence,” he said in a regulatory statement on Wednesday.
During her stewardship, Agbede oversaw key achievements, including a successful ₦351 billion rights issue, workforce stabilisation, and the smooth conduct of two Annual General Meetings.
The incoming CEO, Innocent Ike, brings more than 30 years of banking and leadership experience. A fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Ike is also an alumnus of the University of Lagos, where he graduated as the best accounting student in 1988.
His career spans senior roles at Access Bank, where he managed corporate, commercial, and public sector portfolios, and his tenure as CEO of Polaris Bank between 2020 and 2022, where he pioneered VULTe, the bank’s award-winning digital platform.
