Pastor Shyngle Wigwe, the 90-year-old father of Late Herbert Wigwe, is in court over his grandchildren’s guardianship and management of properties belonging to the late former Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank.

The legal war over the estate of the late Wigwe has moved to the Court of Appeal following the Lagos State High Court’s dismissal of an application for interim reliefs.

In October last year, reports surfaced that Pastor Shyngle Wigwe’s family had a concealed interest in the late banker’s children’s inheritance and allegedly attempted to disinherit them by altering Herbert Wigwe’s will. However, the family strongly denied these claims.

Subsequently, a caveat challenging the late banker’s will surfaced online. It was filed by Christian Chukwuka Wigwe, who claimed to be a cousin of the deceased, on behalf of the deceased’s father, Pastor Shyngle Wigwe.

The filing of the caveat filed at the Probate Registry challenging the distribution of the late banker’s Estate as contained in his will forced the family, especially its patriarch, Pastor Shyngle Wigwe, to retract their earlier denials, which subsequently turned into statements like “we have withdrawn the suit. Our concern was the welfare of the children.”

While the court ruling reported by the media today showed that the family lied about withdrawing the suit challenging the distribution of the late banker’s Estate, joining the 26-year-old Miss Otutochi Channel Wigwe, late Herbert Wigwe’s daughter, in a suit involving Uche Wigwe and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

However, the court has safeguarded the children from the Wigwe family’s claims by ruling that Pastor Shyngle Wigwe and Christian Chukwuka Wigwe are “not entitled to seek the reliefs” presented before it.

Herbert Wigwe was among six people who lost their lives on February 9, 2024, when the Eurocopter EC130 they were traveling in crashed near Nipton, California. The tragic incident also claimed the lives of his wife, Doreen Chizoba Wigwe, his 29-year-old son, Chizi Wigwe, former Nigerian Exchange Group Plc Chairman, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, and two crew members.