Ezra Olubi, a prominent Nigerian entrepreneur, software developer, and former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Co-founder of Paystack, has been a key figure in the rise of the Nigerian tech ecosystem.

Known for his distinct personal style, technical brilliance, and unconventional public persona, Ezra is widely regarded as one of the pioneers who helped modernise online payments in Nigeria.

Before founding Paystack, Ezra built a strong career in software engineering, working on enterprise systems, mobile applications, and digital infrastructure across various Nigerian companies. His ability to design secure, scalable systems would later become critical in the development of a world-class payment solution.

In 2015, Ezra co-founded Paystack with friend and collaborator Shola Akinlade. Paystack was created to solve one of the biggest challenges facing African businesses at the time: the difficulty of accepting reliable online payments.

As Paystack’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Ezra designed and oversaw the technical architecture of the platform, ensuring it was fast, secure, and developer-friendly. As a result, Paystack became the preferred payment gateway for thousands of merchants, including major African brands.

The tenure of Olubi at Paystack recently concluded under contentious circumstances following allegations of misconduct and the resurfacing of explicit past social media posts (dating from 2009-2013).

Paystack initially suspended him from all duties in November 2025, pending a formal investigation. The company later terminated his employment on November 22, 2025, stating the decision was made due to ‘significant negative reputational damage’and that it acted under its contractual rights and ‘followed due process.’

The dismissal, announced by Olubi in a personal blog post on Saturday, November 23, 2025, marks one of the most high-profile governance crises to hit Nigeria’s tech ecosystem in recent years.

Olubi, however, publicly claimed he was terminated unfairly before the investigation was concluded and without an opportunity to respond, leading him to state that his legal team is reviewing the termination process.

“My legal team is now reviewing the process that led to my purported termination, including its consistency with internal policies,” he wrote, adding that they would take “appropriate” steps. He declined to comment further.

Ezra Olubi’s career has been defined by his contributions as an IT expert, software engineer, and co-founder of a company that achieved a major tech acquisition, playing a significant role in elevating the African fintech landscape.

Through Paystack, Olubi helped build the infrastructure that powers thousands of businesses and supports billions in transactions across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and beyond.

Paystack became the first Nigerian startup to be accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator startup accelerator in 2016, receiving initial funding. It officially launched publicly later that year.

In 2020, Paystack was acquired by US payments giant Stripe in a landmark deal valued at over $200 million, marking one of the largest acquisitions of a Nigerian startup at the time. The platform’s mission is to help businesses in Africa get paid online and offline.

Career before Paystack

Before co-founding Paystack in 2015, Ezra Olubi built a substantial career in software and mobile application development and technology leadership. His roles included IT Administrator at Business Management Consultants Ltd; Web Applications Developer at North Ocean Logistics & Solutions Ltd, head developer and Web/Applications Developer at Softcom Imagio Limited, Nigeria.

After Eyowo.com, a unified payment system was created, Olubi’s dissatisfaction with the limitations of Eyowo helped inspire the vision for Paystack.

He was also the chief technology officer at Jobberman Nigeria from December 2012 to June 2013, where he led scaling efforts to move the server stack to a cloud-based architecture capable of reliably handling millions of transactions daily.

From 2014 to 2015, he served as the Chief Technology Officer at Delivery Science Inc.

Olubi received the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2022 from President Muhammadu Buhari for his contributions to the advancement of technology in finance and business.

Background and Education

Born on November 12, 1986, in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, Olubi pursued his higher education at Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, where he studied computer science/computer engineering. During his time there, he reportedly received the Programmer of the Year award consecutively. (BusinessDay)

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