There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the unpalatable tales that keeps springing out of Nigeria’s tech industry. Risevest, an investment app, has joined the long list of tech companies battling to keep their reputation intact. Its founder and CEO, Eke Urum has been asked to step down after being found guilty of sexual impropriety and abuse of power.
Urum was suspended in August after allegations of sexual and non-sexual abuse by a staff. The company in a statement following his suspension said Urum willingly agreed to step aside as the CEO to allow for a six-week investigation, set up by Risevest’s investors, to run its course. The company said the six-week probe could not establish sexual assault.
A three-man panel made up of Tomi Davies of TVC Labs as Chairperson; Dunoluwa Longe of TLP Advisory as Legal Adviser and Toun Tunde-Anjous of The People Practice as People and Culture Adviser was set up to begin investigation into the matter. Following the end of the investigations, evidence showed sexual relations with an employee; unwanted, inappropriate jokes and conversations revealed sexual impropriety. It also showed a pattern of abuse of power, intimidation, retaliation and workplace bullying.
The investigation team interacted with nearly 60 former and current employees before reaching its decisions. The panel recommended that Urum should not be reinstated as CEO.
Tony Odiba, the current Head of Operations, who has been with Risevest since its inception, was asked to lead the company as the interim CEO, According to the company, Odiba will remain in acting capacity until a substantive chief executive officer is appointed while Urum remains a non-executive board member and will lead the firm’s investment strategy and provide guidance on technology.
Founded in 2019 by the trio of Bosun Olanrewaju, Urum, and Odiba, Risevest is a leading stock investment app, a startup that allows Africans to invest in foreign investment opportunities. In August 2021, Risevest, which then had over 12,000 people present in its Telegram learning community, was one of four fintech companies whose accounts the Nigerian central bank froze for 180 days for engaging in speculative trading that allegedly weakened the naira against the dollar.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
