The Stripe-owned Nigerian payments giant, Paystack, has suspended its co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ezra Olubi, following an allegation of sexual misconduct involving subordinates.
The controversy erupted after Nigerians dug throwback posts following allegations from his ex-partner, Max Obae, known as Maki.
Maki accused Olubi of misogyny, abuse, and sexual exploitation, ending their relationship via an email with its subject titled: ‘Severance’.
She also alleged that Ezra pretended to be gay to lure feminists into his circle and slowly break the feminist out of them, through depressing humiliation rituals, using them as sex objects and keeping them in check with money.
In a statement shared with TechCabal, Paystack confirmed that Olubi had been placed on suspension and that a formal inquiry was underway.
“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 company added that it would not make further public comments until the investigation was concluded.
“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.
LEADERSHIP reports that the misconduct allegation reignited attention on dozens of Ezra’s decade-old tweets, many of which contain sexually explicit remarks, including comments about colleagues, meetings, minors, and sexualised anime characters.
Between 2010 and 2017, Olubi posted several tweets in which he joked about erections during meetings, referenced wanting to photograph a coworker’s thighs, and made inappropriate statements about minors.
One tweet dated May 23, 2011, read, “Monday will be more fun with an ‘a’ in it. Touch a coworker today. Inappropriately.”
In another tweet from 2010, he wrote, “On a lighter note, I hear sex with a minor cures HIV. So my +ve followers, help yourselves. Ur neighbour’s daughter isn’t looking bad today.”
Another tweet from 2012 read, “I judge my female friends by the sound their pee makes. Thanks to the audio recorder in my bathroom.”
Many other tweets deemed highly offensive circulated online but are too explicit to reproduce.
Although Ezra deactivated his X account on Thursday evening, he has however not publicly addressed either the resurfaced tweets or the sexual misconduct allegation.
The controversy came at a time when African tech has increasingly been forced to confront misconduct allegations involving high-ranking executives.
Recall that October 2025, Oscar Limoke, CEO of Kenyan IT firm Pawa IT Solutions, was fined by the Employment and Labour Relations Court after sexual harassment and assault allegations prompted the resignation of a staff member.
The renewed circulation of Ezra’s tweets has revived difficult questions about leadership behaviour, power dynamics, accountability, and how far past conduct should inform assessments of present-day leaders.
