Details have emerged on how Olusola Faleye, personal assistant to the late group chief executive officer of Access Holdings Plc Herbert Wigwe, found himself on a road trip and not on the ill-fated helicopter with his boss.
Mr Wigwe, his wife Chizoba, first son Chizi, and former group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo; died in a helicopter crash on February 9, 2024.
The Airbus EC130 helicopter took off from Palm Springs Airport in California and was headed for Boulder City, Nevada when it went down near Halloran Springs in California.
A total of six persons onboard the aircraft died.
Some news platforms had earlier reported that Mr Faleye refused to join his boss in the helicopter, citing stormy weather.
However, media mogul Dele Momodu shared a tale on Instagram on Wednesday believed to be from sources close to Faleye, a native of Ipoti Ekiti in Ekiti State.
The post read, “…I want to use this medium to let everyone know the truth which was contrary to what the media reported.
“Sola never disobeyed his boss, he never rejected to travel with the chopper, he never complained about the weather, he never offered to use another means to travel, his name was on the chopper’s manifest, meaning he was to go with the chopper, however, they had a lot of luggage packed in a van which was to be used at their final destinations.
“The bags and baggage could not fit into the chopper, they resorted to the driver of the van to drive 5 hours with the van to Nevada, their last destination.
“At this point, Sola offered to ride with the van to be able to watch over the driver and their luggages and the boss consented to the request. That was how it was before the unfortunate incident.”
Wigwe left behind three children and aged parents.