Late Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe Left Behind A Will To Protect His Children + Details

Herbert Wigwe's extended family and the kids he left behind are on a warpath.
The war started immediately. Herbert, the benefactor of the warring parties, was buried last year.
What is at the heart of the war is the vast wealth that Herbert left behind.
What are the issues behind the fight between the two parties, and what are the lessons we can learn from the infighting between the two parties?

It is story time.

1) In 2013, Herbert drafted his will and deposited it with a court in the US.

The will was later reviewed in 2015, 9 years before his actual death.
But he did more than a will.

2) A family office called Tengen Family Office was set up in 2017.
What the finance professionals that work for the family office Tengen Family do is simple.
To manage the wealth of the founders of Tengen: Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede is the chairman of Access Bank and the co-founder of Access Bank.
AIG and Herbert founded Access Bank together.
Speaking of Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Herbert made him a trustee of the will he drafted in 2013 because he trusted his friend, brother and business partner to manage and protect his interest when he is no more
And AIG has been doing that since Herbert died.
But the conflict is more than AIG and being an enforcer of Herbert will

3) Before he died, Herbert was a wealthy man, a billionaire in naira and a millionaire in dollars.
He was the largest individual shareholder of Access Bank with a 9% shareholding of the bank.
His shares in the bank are worth 125 billion.
To buttress the kind of wealth that Herbert left behind
After his death, his estate received 1.1 billion in dividends last year for the 2024 dividend from Access Bank that would have gone to Herbert if he were to be alive, but the money will now go to Tochi and her younger siblings, and this payment will continue to the estate as long as Access Bank is in existence and profitable.
But he was wealthier than this.
He owns a vast real estate portfolio scattered all over the country.
He also owns the popular Wigwe University.

4- He built a palatial mansion at Queen Drive, Ikoyi, a palatial house that Herbert did not get to enjoy before he died.
He also owns substantial dollar savings running into millions of dollars in his dollar domiciliary account.
He also owns a private jet as well.
For a man who was this wealthy, he was intentional about his family and their welfare in the event of his passing.

5) In the will that he wrote in 2013, which was reviewed in 2015, he was very clear with what he wanted.
In the event of his death, his wealth should be managed by his estate and the family office, and the profit from the investment should be enjoyed solely by his kids alone.
Not his father, mother, or siblings.
His kids alone and he was clear with this instruction
When the family office was set up in 2017 to manage his wealth and that of his business partner AIG
The same instructions were left by Herbert to the manager of his wealth.

6) In his lifetime, Herbert had a cousin who is a lawyer, Uche Wigwe, and because Uche enjoys his confidence and trust, he made Uche and AIG, his business partner, the trustee of his will.

7) Herbert died last year; he did not see his death coming and was not ready for it.
But he was prepared.
Herbert was a meticulous man in his lifetime and so had a will and a family office to protect his kids regardless of their age and gender.
It is irrelevant that the only remaining heir is a female.
As long as she is Herbert’s kid, acknowledged by him in his lifetime, she is entitled to enjoy the wealth made by her dad.

8. After his interment last year at Isiokpo, his extended family had a brainwave.
Since Herbert, our benefactor, is no more, we can’t allow the kids to enjoy this vast wealth alone.
They're too young to enjoy such a vast wealth, and besides, the oldest of the surviving kids is a 26-year-old, Tochi.
Tochi is a woman, and in their thinking, too young to control what his late dad left behind.
The rest of Tochi‘s surviving siblings are younger than her and they are in secondary schools.
The Herbert Wigwe family is accusing Tochi of living a champagne life, which they believe she is too young to enjoy.
Tochi is living alone with the house servants in the palatial mansion on Queen Drive, Ikoyi, that her dad built, which he did not enjoy before he died.
They also accused her of flying private jets and using the private jet that the dad left behind for her local travel.
To regulate this extravagance and more, they are demanding 20% ownership of the estate (wealth) left behind by their late son.
They also demand joint custody of the kids under the supervision of their 90-year-old dad.

9) When the family could not prevail on AIG and Uche Wigwe, the two trustees that are managing Herbert's wealth, to dance to their tune, the case proceeded to the Lagos High Court last year.
Just last week, the case was thrown out by the court for lack of merit.
To the shock of many following the drama, the Wigwe family went to Appeal court to appeal this verdict by Lagos high court.

10) The biggest lesson to take home from this Wigwe soap opera is simple.
Nobody knows when death will come, but as a rich man or woman living in Nigeria, put a proper structure in place to protect your family from the greed of your family who wants to reap where they did not sow.

Write a will. Establish a family office to manage your wealth.
Appoint trustworthy people you trust as trustees and enforcers of your will.
This is the debt and the duty you owe your kids.
And this is what Herbert has taught us and is the best exemplifier of this.

From Facebook by chukwudi iwuchukwu