The fate of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Lamuwa, is hanging in the balance over allegations of sexual harassment as three more women have also testified against him.
The Permanent Secretary had been in the eye of the storm for days over allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by one Simisola Fajemirokun-Ajayi who is an aide to the Minister of External Affairs.
The lady wrote a petition to the minister which forced the latter to equally write to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, to probe the allegation.
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Based on the Minister’s petition, the Head of Service set up a panel to investigate the allegations after suspending the Permanent Secretary, pending the probe’s outcome.
However, findings show that, at least, three more women have approached the probe panel to lodge similar allegations of sexual harassment against the Permanent Secretary.
Minister petitions HOF
Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar had written a complaint letter to the Head of Service of the Federation, requesting that action be taken against the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, over alleged sexual harassment of a married female staffer.
The complaint was contained in a letter dated, 27th May 2024, titled; ‘Re: Official Complaint Regarding Sexual Harassment Of Mrs Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi By Ambassador Ibrahim Adamu Lamuwa (Permanent Secretary Ministry Of Foreign Affairs).”
The minister in the letter said, “I am compelled to write to inform you of a formal complaint against the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ibrahim Adamu Lamuwa on allegations of sexual harassment.
“Bearing in mind the gravity of the matter, I feel it necessary to draw your attention to it and ask that you handle it accordingly.
“Please find attached a copy of the complaint I received via email. May I also assure you that I remain available to provide you with any assistance required in discharging your responsibilities?”
What FRN’s Constitution says
Lamuwa may be in serious trouble if the case is established against him as the issues of sexual harassment are frowned upon by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
Section 352 expressly states that “Any person who assaults another with intent to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for 14 years.”
This is further corroborated by Section 360 that “any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a woman or girl is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for two years.”
Perm Sect denies accusation
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Lamuwa, has dismissed and described as fake, over sexual advances towards Mrs Ajayi.
Lamuwa in a letter from his lawyers denied the allegation of sexual harassment, noting that Mrs Ajayi misinterpreted their conversation.
Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar advised the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to handle the matter accordingly, promising to assist in the investigation.
Reacting to the allegation on Wednesday, June 12, Lamuwa opined: “We are legal representatives of Ambassador Ibrahim Lamuwa (hereinafter referred to as “our client”), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and have been authorised to make the following statement on his behalf, in response to allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by Mrs Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi, an aide to the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“The media, particularly the social media has been inundated with the digital copy of a petition written by legal representatives of Mrs. Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi against Amb. Lamuwa. This petition was clearly leaked in order to generate sympathy for her unsubstantiated claims.
“We wish to state categorically that our client has never made any sexual advances towards Mrs. Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi, who he is aware is a married woman, neither has he ever made suggestive comments or innuendos that requested any form of untoward relationship between himself and her.
“Our client distinctly recalls the events that took place at the ministry’s retreat on October 7th 2023 where Mrs Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi claims that he invited her to his room. Our client states categorically that, he never made such an invitation and that his only communication with Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi, which was an overt one, was where he checked on her, like he did to all participants on whether they had been well-lodged in their hotels.
“He further recalls that the instance where he spoke of her as a nursing mother, during the same retreat was in a colloquial conversation they were having with other participants, where one participant even responded jokingly that when a woman says “her baby” it could mean either her husband or one of her children, of which he innocuously joked asking “how big is the baby?” Our client maintains that those conversations were made jokingly and sees their misinterpretation as malicious and with ill-intent.
“Our client also maintains that it is an absurdity for Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi to claim that he invited her to Hong Kong, given that the conversation they were both having was on how Honk Kong had digitised its work processes as far back as 1999. Our client wonders how such a conversation became interpreted as an invitation for her to travel alongside himself knowing fully well that she is an aide to the minister. How can she possibly leave the minister to follow the permanent secretary, on a vacation? Would that not be the height of delusion for the one requesting, as well as the one heeding to the request?
“It is clear that the minister’s aide has misinterpreted ordinary conversations, made openly and in the presence of other participants, for untoward intentions. We believe that these allegations are directly tied to our client’s firm objections raised regarding improper requests that Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi made, particularly to financial matters in the ministry.
“For example, Mrs. Fajemirokun-Ajayi made a trip to the World Economic Forum (Davos), of which she sought a reimbursement from the ministry for. Our client firmly explained to her that while the ministry may look at avenues to refund her expenses, it is not the appropriate process for a trip to be made without an approval, and then funded with taxpayers money.
“Further to this, is the fact of Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi’s unfamiliarity with civil service rules and processes where she had requested from our client access to policy files and even financial records of high-level activities of the ministry. By no means, should the permanent secretary, as chief accounting officer of the ministry provide such sensitive documents to an aide of the minister, worse via a WhatsApp chat. There are due processes in government, and they must be followed.
“We must emphasise that Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi is a political appointee, and not a civil servant. Thus, matters of finance and policy are out of bounds for her in this instance.
“It is crucial to mention that our client, in all his 32 years of service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, never received a query nor a report against him bordering on harassment, let alone, s*xual harassment. In the course of this period, our client has served in Hong Kong, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Syria and more recently, Senegal, and there has never been a negative report on his conduct in any of these countries.
“Ambassador Lamuwa has also served for nine years in the State House. From the office of the vice president, to the office of the chief of staff to the president, and to the office of the president, and no negative report or allegation of any kind has ever been raised against him”.
