Paystack, the Stripe-owned Nigerian payments company, has suspended its Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ezra Olubi, following an allegation of sexual misconduct involving a subordinate.
The controversy started on social media on Wednesday, after someone who once had a relationship with Olubi published personal complaints online.
The post prompted renewed attention to disturbing tweets Olubi posted between 2009 and 2013, many of which contained sexually suggestive content involving colleagues and minors.
The resurfacing of the tweets reignited public debate over accountability, personal conduct, and the long-lasting impact of social media activity. Olubi has since deactivated his X account.
Some of the resurfaced tweets drew widespread criticism, with one reading: “I judge my female friends by the sound of their pee make. Thanks to the audio in my bathroom,” while another stated: “Save water. Take a bath with your neighbour’s daughter.”
One of the tweets, posted on May 23, 2011, read: “Monday will be more fun with an ‘a’ in it. Touch a coworker today. Inappropriately.”
According to a report on TechCabal on Friday, the company said it had opened a formal probe into the matter.“Paystack is aware of the allegations involving our Co-founder, Ezra Olubi.
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 company said in a confirmation statement made to TechCabal.
The firm added that it would not be offering further comments while the process is ongoing.
“Out of respect for the individuals involved and to protect the integrity of the process, we will not be commenting further until the investigation is complete,” Paystack said.
Paystack, founded in 2015 by Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade, is a leading Nigerian fintech company providing online and offline payment infrastructure to businesses across Africa.
The company was the first Nigerian startup accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator in 2016, and it rapidly grew to serve tens of thousands of merchants.
In 2020, Paystack was acquired by global payments giant Stripe for over US$200 million, marking one of the largest fintech exits in Nigeria.
Olubi, as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, played a key role in building the company’s technology architecture, helping it scale across Nigeria and beyond.
The tweets, posted years before he co-founded Paystack, resurfaced on Thursday and quickly spread across X.
Their renewed circulation has intensified public scrutiny as the company investigates the allegation, fuelling broader discussion about workplace boundaries and expectations of behaviour from senior leaders in the ecosystem.
Olubi has not publicly addressed the tweets or allegations of sexual misconduct. He also deactivated his X account on Thursday, November 13, 2025.
Olubi’s tweets resurface in an ecosystem that has had to confront multiple incidents of workplace misconduct involving tech leaders in the past few years.
More recently, inOctober,Oscar Limoke, the CEO of Kenyan IT firm Pawa IT Solutions, was fined by the country’s Employment and Labour Relations Court over sexual harassment and assault allegations that forced a staff member to resign.
Paystack is one of Africa’s most significant technology companies. Founded in 2015, it became one of Y-Combinator’s earliest African investments, and its 2020 acquisition for $200 million remains one of the continent’s most significant exits.
Its alumni have gone on to found startups across logistics, fintech, and financial infrastructure.
Because of Paystack’s size, influence, and close association with global payments giant Stripe, the handling of this investigation will be closely watched across the sector.
It raises questions about governance in high-trust companies, how allegations involving senior leadership are managed, and what standards employees and the public should expect from companies that describe themselves as value-driven.
TechCabal also reached out to Stripe, Paystack’s parent company, for comment. The company had not responded by the time of publication.
Paystack has long emphasised values such as transparency, clear communication, and kindness in its public employer-brand messaging and reviews from former staff.
The resurfaced tweets, despite being more than a decade old, have prompted scrutiny of how senior leaders embody those commitments and how consistently such values are upheld in practice.
“In line with our internal policies, we have established a fair, transparent, and structured review process to conduct a thorough investigation,” Paystack added.
“This process is guided by our policies, our values, and our commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all employees.”
These are some of the tweets;
As investigations continue, one lesson emerges clearly: impact and influence cannot shield individuals from accountability. Olubi’s code built bridges, but his words and actions now risk burning them.
In a nation chasing digital innovation, his saga sparks vital conversations about ethics, culture, and responsibility.