Paystack, the Nigerian payments giant acquired by Stripe in a landmark 2020 deal, has suspended its co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ezra Olubi. The move follows allegations of sexual misconduct involving a subordinate that first circulated on social media on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.

In a statement, the company confirmed it has opened a formal investigation.

“Paystack is aware of the allegations involving our Co-founder, Ezra Olubi,” the company said. “We take matters of this nature extremely seriously. Effective immediately, Ezra has been suspended from all duties and responsibilities pending the outcome of a formal investigation.”

The allegations have also drawn renewed scrutiny to a cache of decade-old tweets from Olubi, containing sexually explicit posts about colleagues, jokes about workplace misconduct, and comments involving minors. One post from May 2011 read: “Monday will be more fun with an ‘a’ in it. Touch a coworker today. Inappropriately.”

Olubi, who has not responded to requests for comment, has since deactivated his X (formerly Twitter) account.

For many in the global startup community, the 2020 Paystack acquisition (valued at over $200 million) heralded the maturation of the African tech scene. It was a sign of validation.

Five years later, the suspension of its co-founder is a stark reminder of a different, more troubling pattern: a recurring leadership crisis that observers have dubbed the ecosystem’s “one scandal a year” problem. The incident at Paystack is not an isolated case but the latest in a long line of high-profile implosions involving financial mismanagement, personal misconduct, and governance failures.

A Troubling Timeline of Founder Crises

The Paystack news lands just months after the collapse of another prominent startup, Bento Africa.

In early 2025, Bento CEO Ebun Okubanjo resigned amid mounting regulatory scrutiny and a mass exodus of clients. The HR and payroll startup, which served major firms like Paystack and Moniepoint, faced investigations from the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of failing to remit taxes and pension contributions.

Clients like Fuelmetrics publicly accused the company of negligence and even forgery, claiming millions in unpaid contributions. The scandal was compounded by Okubanjo’s own history; he had been removed from “people-related” decisions in 2022 following reports of a toxic workplace culture, only to be reinstated. Bento has since paused transactions, leaving its future in doubt.

This “scandal-a-year” pattern has become alarmingly predictable:

• 2023: Patricia The crypto exchange sparked “exit scam” fears after a reported hack. The company suspended withdrawals and then, without user consent, converted all customer balances in BTC and naira into its own new, un-pegged “Patricia Token” (PTK). The company described PTK as a “debt instrument” that would be released based on future profitability, effectively rendering user funds worthless.
• 2022: Risevest The founder and CEO of the dollar-investment fintech, Eke Urum, was recommended to step down by investors. This followed a six-week independent investigation into allegations of “sexual and non-sexual impropriety” and abuse of power.
• 2020: A Year of Reckoning The year of Paystack’s acquisition was also a year of major fallouts.
• Wejapa: CEO Favour Ori was accused by numerous developers of extortion and systemic underpayment for services. An investigation later found him guilty, yet he quickly re-emerged in the ecosystem, raising $1 million for a new startup, Payday.
• Gokada: The ride-hailing company, which later pivoted to logistics, saw its co-founder Deji Oduntan resign in 2019 over unconfirmed reports of disputes over fund management. The company’s founder, Fahim Saleh, was tragically murdered in New York in 2020, and Gokada has since filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the US.
• Tizeti: The CEO of the wifi startup, Kendall Ananyi, faced allegations of sexual misconduct. An independent investigation later cleared him, but the incident highlighted the sector’s vulnerability to such claims.
• Cars45: Co-founder Etop Ikpe and 11 other senior executives departed the company following its acquisition by OLX Group, reportedly due to intense squabbles over equity and management.
• Cellulant: The co-founder of the Kenyan-Nigerian payments firm, Bolaji Akinboro, resigned after irregularities were discovered in its Agrikore platform, a digital marketplace.

A Reckoning for ‘Founder-Worship’

While the scandals vary, they point to a common root: a gap between rapid, VC-fueled growth and the establishment of mature corporate governance. The Nigerian tech ecosystem, like Silicon Valley before it, has long operated on a “move fast and break things” ethos, often translating into a culture of “founder-worship” where visionary leaders are given unchecked power.

This lack of oversight — from weak boards, disengaged investors, and non-existent HR policies — has proven to be a systemic risk.

The Bento Africa case is particularly damaging. The allegations are not just about a toxic boss but about a B2B service company failing in its core fiduciary duty. When tech startups — whose very premise is building trust through technology — are accused of faking tax receipts, it erodes the foundation of the entire B2B ecosystem.

The Stakes Are Global

The suspension at Paystack raises the stakes. Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack has moved the payments firm from a high-growth startup to a critical part of a global, publicly-traded financial infrastructure company. The incident now forces a multinational corporation to manage a reputational crisis originating from its Nigerian subsidiary’s founding team.

For investors, these recurring scandals are a flashing red light, complicating the narrative of Africa as the “next frontier.” In a market where due diligence is already difficult, reports of founder misconduct and financial mismanagement make it “harder for entrepreneurs trying to build material companies and VCs trying to raise funds,” as one investor told Launch Base Africa.

The Nigerian tech scene has proven it can build world-class products and secure billion-dollar valuations. Its next challenge is to prove it can build durable, accountable, and transparent institutions. As the investigation at Paystack proceeds, the entire ecosystem is on watch. The outcome will signal whether the sector is ready to finally graduate from its chaotic adolescence to maturity.