Anxiety Over Bento’s Future as Ebun Okubanjo Resigns as CEO

Mr Okubanjo, who has been no stranger to controversies, announced his resignation in an email to Bento’s board of directors and relinquished his equity and debt holdings in the company.

This comes amid allegations of financial mismanagement, particularly regarding the withholding of employee taxes and pension contributions, which is reportedly being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS).

Last week, Mr Akintunde Sultan, co-founder of edtech company, AltSchool, in a series of tweets alleged that the company was not remitting personal income taxes into the coffers of the state.

Another allegation was reportedly brought by Fuelmetrics, a digital inventory management firm for petrol stations, which alleged that Bento Africa had failed to remit up to N50 million in taxes and pension contributions since 2023.

In his resignation to the Bento board, Mr Okubanjo admitted the company was struggling since last year due to the challenges associated with the operating environment, adding the last episode- referring to the allegations- was the final straw.

He also said his resignation preceded the allegations, asking the board to find a replacement about three weeks ago.

He also signalled to investors that the allegations were from his close competitors in the HR management tech platform space.

Mr Okubanjo, speaking on the future of the company, admitted the challenges, particularly in Nigeria, Rwanda, and Ghana.

“Someone should take it, rebrand it, it is actually a pretty rad product but it’s time for a new slang. I release all my equity and debt,” quotations from his message to investors seen by this newspaper said.

Mr Okubanjo, who initially stepped down after a Tech Cabal investigation revealed the company’s toxic work environment, regained the mantle of the firm after his co-founder, Mr Chidozie Okonkwo resigned from the position, citing personal reasons.

The entrepreneur will now transition back to the US and will be looking to compete in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) space.