Nigeria, May 9 -- The late Herbert Wigwe was, by many considerations, one of the most consequential bankers in Nigeria.

As the chief executive of Access Holdings, he helped transform a mid-tier lender into West Africa's largest banking institution. But when he died in a helicopter crash in the California desert in February 2024, alongside his wife, son, and two others, the full scale of his financial world had barely been told.

PREMIUM TIMES can now report, drawing on corporate filings across multiple jurisdictions, UK property registration data, and company records in Nigeria, Cyprus, the United States, Mauritius, the Isle of Man, and Jersey, that Mr Wigwe held stakes in at least 80 companies spread across 20 countries.

Many of these ...