
The Digest:
Access Holdings Plc has appointed Innocent Ike as its substantive Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, effective August 29, 2025. Here are seven key things to know about the new leader:
Key Points:
- Ike brings over 30 years of banking experience, having worked in top-tier financial institutions across Nigeria.
- He spent 10 years at Access Bank, rising to General Manager, where he handled corporate, commercial, and public sector portfolios.
- As CEO of Polaris Bank (2020–2022), he spearheaded transformation, notably launching VULTe, a digital platform that won multiple industry awards.
- Ike graduated as the Best Graduating Student in Accounting from the University of Lagos in 1988.
- He is a Fellow of both CIBN and ICAN, and a certified IFRS expert.
- He succeeds Bolaji Agbede, who held the fort for 18 months after the passing of Herbert Wigwe, guiding Access Holdings through a delicate period of stability and growth.
- Ike has pledged to build on the legacies of Wigwe and Agbede, while steering Access Holdings toward becoming “the world’s most respected African financial services company.”