Bolaji Akinboro, CEO of Cellulant Nigeria Limited and Co-founder of Cellulant Corporation, has resigned from all his managerial positions within the company. Akinboro, who served as the Executive Lead for Cellulant’s flagship platform, Agrikore, stepped down following identified irregularities concerning the platform’s post-audit results.

Cellulant issued an internal statement detailing the situation, explaining that a compliance review on the Agrikore platform revealed that its compliance infrastructure and control framework had not kept pace with the platform’s rapid expansion. An subsequent investigation uncovered that 14 Agrikore employees had inappropriately received funds from Agrikore wallets. Crucially, the company emphasized that there was no indication of customer funds being compromised. All 14 employees implicated in the potential misappropriation of funds have since been retrenched by Cellulant.

As a direct consequence of these findings and pending the full resolution of the questionable matters, Cellulant has announced a temporary suspension of Agrikore operations for an estimated period of six to eight weeks. The firm stated, “As soon as we understood the issue, we moved quickly to temporarily shut down the Agrikore marketplace, inform our customers and regulators, and terminate the employees involved.”

Dr. Sam Kiruthu, Chairman of Cellulant’s Board of Directors, commented on the gravity of the situation, stating, “This has led us to the difficult decision to suspend Agrikore operations while we complete a comprehensive review of all aspects of Agrikore operations. The integrity of the platform is our top priority and we trust that we can count on your patience as we address these issues over the coming weeks.” Despite the challenges with Agrikore, Cellulant assured that its broader e-payment services across Nigeria, Kenya, and nine other African countries will remain fully operational. Kiruthu reiterated, “The payment business in Nigeria therefore remains operational while we conduct the review of Agrikore. Our other markets are also fully operational, and we remain committed to providing innovative solutions that support the business objectives of all our business partners and customers.”

Cellulant, founded in 2004 by Bolaji Akinboro and Ken Njoroge, operates as an electronic payments gateway through its app and website, facilitating financial transactions for individuals, merchants, and corporations. The company currently maintains operations in eleven African nations: Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, and Rwanda.

Agrikore, a distinct spin-off from Cellulant, is a blockchain-based digital marketplace designed to connect various agricultural stakeholders, including governments, farmers, merchants, and financial institutions. The platform caters to over 7 million farmers across Africa and its development was largely financed by a significant $47.5 million Series C funding round from investors such as Velocity Capital, The Rise Fund, Endeavor Catalyst, and two other entities. Bolaji Akinboro was directly responsible for overseeing Agrikore’s operations and leading its entire team. While SiteIndices estimated Agrikore’s valuation at approximately $15,000 as of August this year, Cellulant noted that Agrikore had experienced rapid growth over the past two and a half years. However, the company's statement indicated that Agrikore’s fiscal position had not been consistent with its rapid scaling, leading to the "critical" issues now requiring resolution.

To ensure a thorough and impartial investigation, Cellulant has engaged an “independent ‘Big 4’ accounting firm to conduct a complete forensic review of marketplace wallets and a well-respected Nigerian law firm to lead a full, independent investigation of the platform.” The full extent of the factors that led to Bolaji Akinboro’s resignation is expected to be clarified through these ongoing inquiries.