Risevest suspends senior executive after old bigotry tweets resurface

Nigerian investment platform Risevest has suspended a senior executive after old social media posts containing ethnic slurs directed at Yoruba women emerged and spread widely online.

The posts, dating back to around 2013, were made under the X handle @Cuntosaur, which allegedly belongs to Otas Evbuomwan, Operations Lead at Risevest. They contain derogatory language aimed at Yoruba women as an ethnic group. These posts occurred years before Risevest was founded.

Screenshots shared online showed the executive making multiple hostile remarks, including references to “Yoruba women” in degrading terms across several posts. The account has since been set to private.

The situation escalated further when a user known as @pontrol_777 on X shared screenshots showing the executive had also sent abusive direct messages in recent days, defending the old posts and hurling fresh insults. “She was in my f—ing DM to curse me out yesterday, standing on her tweet,” the user wrote.

In a public statement, Risevest said it became aware of the resurfaced posts and immediately convened an internal review. “Following an internal review, the staff member involved has been placed on immediate suspension while we assess her conduct and interactions within the team to ensure that they have been in line with the values the company stands by,” the company said.

The company clearly stated its position. “At Risevest, we do not tolerate tribalism or any form of bigotry. It goes against what we believe in, the standard we hold ourselves to, and the kind of company we are building.” The company also did not name the suspended executive or confirm whether it was Otas Evbuomwan.

Risevest CEO: Posts ‘too serious’ as company launches internal review

Risevest CEO Eke Urum said in a separate post that he was tagged in the screenshots late the previous evening and immediately escalated the matter to the company’s leadership team. He described the posts as “not casual” and said they were “too serious to be dismissed as shitposting”.

He added that the company had so far found no evidence that the tweets reflected the executive’s conduct at work.

“Risevest was started as a company that is a home to everyone who wants to do great work, with respect and love for every group of people,” Urum wrote. He said the company would handle the matter thoroughly and without favouritism.

The Risevest leadership later reached out privately to@pontrol_777, one of the people most vocal about the incident. According to the user, the company apologised on behalf of the executive and noted that 60% of Risevest’s ownership is Yoruba, which made the remarks particularly at odds with the company’s identity.

Co-founder Bosun Olanrewaju reportedly said the executive would be required to remove her account from private and issue a public apology to the Yoruba community.

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The user said she made clear to Olanrewaju that the matter had gone beyond her personally. “There are thousands of Yoruba women following up the case closely, and it shouldn’t end with her just being suspended,” she wrote.

Risevest was founded in 2019 by Eke Urum, Bosun Olanrewaju, and Tony Odiba. The platform allows Nigerians to invest in dollar-denominated assets. The company has not named the executive involved in the controversy.