Innocent Ike: A warrior that returned home

When it was apparent that the tenure of Bolaji Agbede as the acting Group CEO of Access Holdings was coming to an end early this year, the Board of the company launched a meticulous search for her replacement. Agbese took over soon after the tragic death of Herbert Wigwe in February 2024, and with her steady hands and calm composure, she led the company in those sad and difficult months. The emphasis was therefore on getting a man or woman with the requisite technical competence and impressive leadership qualities who embodies the ideals of the Access Group to succeed her. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, board chairman and a major shareholder, was particularly interested in the personality fit of the candidate because he realises how important it is and how well it impacts leadership style, team dynamics and company culture. Many candidates were considered, and eventually, Innocent Ike, a former staff member of Access Bank, was picked for many reasons. Ike is a typical dyed-in-the-wool Access Warrior (that’s what staffers call themselves). As a young trainee, Ike worked under Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede in GT Bank in the 1990s and was one of the few young GT staffers who moved with Aig-Imoukhuede and the late Herbert Wigwe to Access in March 2002. Another young trainee who also moved with them from GT is Roosevelt Ogbonna, the CEO of Access Bank Plc (I am sure that by now my readers know the difference between Access Holdings Plc and Access Bank Plc).

 “In the military, a warrior returning home typically means he’s completed his mission, duty or time in service and is coming back to his family, community or homeland. It can symbolise a transition from a state of conflict or battle to one of rest or retirement.”

Aig-Imoukhuede and Wigwe had launched a hostile takeover of the small, nondescript bank and quickly assumed its ownership and management in 2002. In just over a decade, they had grown the bank to become one of the top five in the country, and today it is the biggest in assets and customer base and one of the nation’s most profitable banks. Innocent Ike was an important member of the family throughout this growth stage, holding many responsibilities and climbing rapidly to the peak as General Manager in charge of the FCT and the Northern markets. In that role, he managed the bank’s commercial and public sector portfolios and contributed significantly to its profitability. In addition, Ike grew his contacts among the nation’s political and business elites, a major consideration in any senior-level recruitment the world over. When I joined the bank in June 2008, it was easy to spot him as one of those who would end up at the top someday, somewhere.

Mild-mannered and affable, Ike picks his words carefully and speaks almost with a stutter. He was appointed CEO of Polaris Bank in 2020 and served in that role until 2022. During his tenure, he launched VULTe, the bank’s award-winning digital banking platform. I visited him at Polaris Head Office in August 2021. As soon as I was ushered into his office, I exclaimed, “Igwe!” – I have been addressing him that way since I first met him. We discussed for over an hour, and I was struck by his warmth and openness. He told me of his tutelage under Aig (that’s how Chairman Aig-Imoukhuede is fondly called by staff members, friends and associates) and all that he had learnt from the Access culture. Here he was as the CEO of another bank, paying tributes to his former boss. Aig-Imoukhuede himself had buried his mother days earlier, and Ike had led a delegation of some warriors to pay him a condolence visit at his Ikoyi office. Gratitude is not very common in banking. It’s an industry where arrogance, competition and greed could detract some.

Now as Group CEO of Access Holdings, the warrior has returned home. In the military, a warrior returning home typically means he’s completed his mission, duty or time in service and is coming back to his family, community or homeland. It can symbolise a transition from a state of conflict or battle to one of rest or retirement. But in Access Nation, a warrior returning home means a former staff member returning to the bank to assume new roles or responsibilities. Ike has his job cut out for him. In the immediate term, he is to drive the group’s 2023–2028 business growth strategies in the next three years and deliver value and higher returns to stakeholders. The plans include further expansions in Africa and other important markets beyond Africa. Ike is to focus on cost optimisation by ensuring that the company’s massive size delivers higher values through synergies across businesses. Late last year, Access Holdings completed its recapitalisation and emerged as the nation’s first bank to meet the new N500 billion minimum capital base. I have no doubt that Ike will rise to the occasion. Igwe! May your tenure be successful!