Ebun Okubanjo, CEO of Bento Africa, a Nigerian payroll and human useful resource administration platform, has resigned amidst allegations of failing to remit taxes and pensions on behalf of its shoppers. Okubanjo introduced his resignation in an e-mail to Bento’s board of administrators, signaling a clear break by additionally relinquishing his fairness and debt holdings within the firm. This transfer opens the door for a possible recent begin for each Okubanjo and Bento Africa.
In his resignation e-mail, Okubanjo hinted at launching a brand new firm, Ada AI, an AI-powered gross sales assistant.
Okubanjo attributed his choice to the problem of scaling HR and payroll techniques in Africa. “If Africa adopts the Western fashion of taxation and remittances—these corporations are gold mines. I exploit Gusto within the U.S. not as a result of I need to, however as a result of I’ve to. Till that occurs—scale will likely be a problem,” Okubanjo wrote within the mail.
His resignation comes at a turbulent time for Bento Africa, with allegations of monetary mismanagement, notably concerning the withholding of worker taxes and pension contributions. These claims had been delivered to mild on Friday by Akintunde Sultan, co-founder of edtech firm AltSchool. Moreover, Fuelmetrics, a digital stock administration agency for petrol stations, alleged that Bento Africa had didn’t remit as much as ₦50 million ($108,000) in taxes and pension contributions for 2023 and 2024.
Okubanjo earlier despatched a resignation letter to the corporate’s board of administrators onJanuary 11, 2025. His resignation follows a controversial management journey, which included a short outsing and subsequent return as CEO in 2022.
Okubanjo stepped down in March 2022 after allegations of verbal abuse and making a poisonous work setting. Bento’s board appointed cofounder Chidozie Okonkwo as CEO however in a stunning flip, Okubanjo returned as CEO in September 2022 after Okonkwo resigned, citing private causes. Okubanjo’s resignation in January 2025 could not have been an entire shock to insiders. In 2024, he had signaled his intent to step down, with one worker claiming that Okubanjo had supplied his place to Lede Adeniyi, the corporate’s CTO. Adeniyi declined the provide and left Bento in October 2024 to pursue his personal entrepreneurial ambitions.
In Okubanjo’s first e-mail to buyers on January 11, Okubanjo requested the board to start trying to find his alternative, stating that he would vacate the place in six weeks. He additionally mirrored on his management journey in the identical e-mail: “This was an schooling; it’s going to in all probability take a lifetime to parse by all the teachings of this nice failure however as a perpetually studying sort. I’m okay with that.”
But, three days after Okubanjo’s first resignation announcement, TechCabal discovered Bento had not informed contacted buyers, with a handful unaware of the CEO’s resignation. One investor who requested to not be named claimed the corporate not often despatched investor updates, whereas one other claimed to know subsequent to nothing concerning the firm. Each buyers instructed the corporate’s operational transparency might have been improved.
Bento was based in 2019 and raised funding from buyers like Berrywood Capital, Flexcap Ventures, and angel buyers. Regardless of the roster of buyers, allegations of a poisonous office surfaced in 2022, a time throughout which Okubanjo claims the corporate was elevating funding. One former worker claimed the incident derailed these talks.
Bento is a member of a category of comparatively new startups providing wage automation, statutory remittances like taxes pensions, and entry to loans. It counts Moniepoint, Lori Programs, Paystack and Kobo360 amongst its consumer record and claims to have processed over $40 million in payroll since 2019.
Regardless of these claims of success, some buyers are skeptical about Bento’s future. Whereas one investor claimed that it didn’t really feel like a rising firm, Okubanjo has repeatedly claimed the corporate is worthwhile, processing about ₦4-5 billion ($2.6 million) in month-to-month salaries with round ₦24 million ($15,871) in month-to-month income.
