One of essentially the most devastating tragedies to hit Nigeria’s monetary sector lately was the dying of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe. Since the deadly helicopter crash that claimed his life, that of his spouse, Doreen, and others, the Wigwe household has remained the topic of public curiosity, with contemporary developments persevering with to emerge from totally different corners of their lives and legacy.
Society Watch not too long ago gathered that Otutochi Wigwe, daughter of the late banking titan, has approached the High Court of Justice of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to safe management of a firm that owns her late dad and mom’ luxurious yacht, Chitochi. The proceedings have introduced the complexities of offshore company possession into the fragile enterprise of preserving and administering a household inheritance.
The yacht is reportedly the only remaining asset of Grosvenor Marine Ventures Ltd., a BVI-registered firm collectively owned by Herbert and Doreen Wigwe, who additionally served as its administrators.
According to the report, the corporate was struck off the BVI Register of Companies and dissolved on November 5, 2024, following the non-payment of its annual charges.
The utility, introduced by Otutochi alongside Uchechukwu Wigwe, described within the filings as an supposed administrator and cousin-in-law of the deceased couple, seeks authority to protect the corporate’s shares and pave the way in which for the eventual sale of the yacht.
Court filings reportedly described Chitochi as a depreciating asset requiring appreciable expenditure on upkeep and insurance coverage, with the potential for additional monetary losses if its sale is delayed. A 2016 Custom Line 108, the 33-metre yacht relies in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the place American yacht brokers have reportedly listed it for sale. Its eventual destiny now relies upon, partly, on the authorized steps required to regularise the standing of the corporate that owns it.
Court paperwork state that each spouses had been domiciled in Nigeria on the time of their deaths and collectively held all of the issued shares in Grosvenor Marine Ventures Ltd., which was included within the British Virgin Islands on March 7, 2012.
For now, Chitochi represents an uncommon chapter within the persevering with story of the Wigwe household. Once a image of the privileges and pleasures related to extraordinary wealth, the yacht has develop into entangled within the much less glamorous realities of inheritance, offshore firm restoration and asset preservation.
