There’s tension brewing in Nigeria’s HR and payroll tech space, as Bento Africa finds itself at the center of serious allegations. The Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) is reportedly investigating the company for allegedly mishandling tax remittances for businesses relying on its payroll services.

It all kicked off on January 24, 2025, when Sultan Akintunde, co-founder of AltSchool Africa, publicly called out Bento on X (formerly Twitter).

Sultan accused the company of collecting millions in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) taxes from clients but remitting only ₦100 to LIRS. Even more damning, he claimed Bento forged tax receipts to make it seem like full payments had been made.

Bento’s CEO, Ebun Okubanjo, was quick to dismiss these claims as reckless and baseless. In a statement to Techpoint Africa, Okubanjo denied any wrongdoing and challenged Sultan to provide evidence to back up his allegations.

However, the story doesn’t end there. Another company, which chose to remain anonymous, has also accused Bento of failing to remit ₦43.8 million in taxes and pensions.

The issues reportedly began in 2023 during a system upgrade, when discrepancies with tax receipts were first noticed. By September 2024, a spot check by LIRS revealed that some receipts were fake. This prompted the company to cut ties with Bento, start paying taxes manually, and begin the search for a new payroll provider.

According to documents obtained by Techpoint Africa, LIRS identified ₦27.9 million worth of fake PAYE receipts from 2023 to 2024, alongside ₦15.8 million in unremitted pension contributions. And it’s not an isolated case — other businesses have reportedly been affected by similar issues with Bento.

Despite these accusations, Okubanjo maintains that Bento has faced challenges but insists the company is not guilty of fraud. He’s even preparing to take legal action against AltSchool in the United States, where both companies are registered.

In the meantime, affected companies are bearing the brunt of the fallout. One firm shared that it may have to pay LIRS directly for the missing funds while figuring out how to recover its losses from Bento.

The situation is messy, and as investigations continue, more details are likely to emerge. For now, the HR and payroll tech space in Nigeria is watching closely to see how this saga unfolds.