Senator Aminu Tambuwal has recalled his last moments with late Access Holdings Group Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, saying he sponsored 10 of his uncles to Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage.
Tambuwal, who represents Sokoto South in the Senate, spoke while contributing to a motion on the death of Wigwe during Wednesday’s plenary.
Recall that Wigwe; his wife, Doreen; son and a former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo; were killed in a helicopter crash in the United States of America last Friday.
Tambuwal said, “While I was the governor of my state he visited me. He asked my uncles what he would do for them. They appealed to him to sponsor them to the hajj. He gave them 10 seats, as Christian, for them to go on hajj. That was Herbert Wigwe for you.
“We spoke last on the 1st of February. He said he called to say hello to me because we had not seen each other for a while. He wanted me to visit him and inspect the Wigwe University project. Well, that day will never come again.”
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, summing up the debate, said Wigwe was a “pan-Africanist who took Access Bank beyond the shores of Nigeria.”
The Senate observed a minute’s silence in memory of the deceased and urged the federal government to collaborate with the United States to ensure that a thorough investigation was done.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, said his administration would immortalise the late Wigwe for his contribution to the development of the state.
He spoke at the inauguration of sections 2 and 3 of the 22km Yenagoa Outer Ring Road which was constructed by Lubrik, one of Access Bank’s subsidiaries.
