Ibrahim Lamuwa, the permanent secretary of the federal ministry of foreign affairs, says he is being accused of s3_u@l harassment by Simisola Fajemirokun-Ajayi, an official of the ministry, because he refused her demands.
Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, had notified
Folasade Yemi-Esan, the head of service of the federation (HoS), of the
allegation.
In a letter to Yemi-Esan, the minister said it was necessary
to communicate the development to her following the “gravity of the matter”
after Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, wrote a petition to him.
However, in response to the allegation, Lamuwa said his failure to pay Ajayi’s bills on an official trip to Davos and refusal to grant her access to policy files and financial records of the ministry were the reasons why she accused him of s3_u@l harassment.
The permanent secretary said he has never s3_u@lly harassed
her but has maintained a professional relationship with all his subordinates.
“I have served for nine years cumulatively in the State
House, in the Office of the Vice President, Chief of Staff to the President,
and the exalted Office of the President at various times under Chief Mike
Oghiadomhe, Mr. David Edevbie, Amb. Abdullahi Gwary, and lastly, Amb. Lawal
Kazaure,” Lamuwa’s leaked response reads.
“I received three letters of commendation at various times
from the State House for meritorious service.
“On allegations of
female directors being harassed, I have never had any incident with any female
director in any hotel room, nor have I ever removed any female officers’ names
from trips or postings because they refused to comply with any s3_u@l demands.
“No four women or any number could have shared any alleged
ordeal with me with her, as no such incidents have happened in the past, and it
is untrue that any such common knowledge exists in the Ministry, as there is no
basis for it.
“From the foregoing, I believe Mrs. Simisola O.
Fajemirokun-Ajayi’s action might not be unconnected with my failure to pay her
Davos bills or give her access to the Ministry’s policy files and financial
records.
“For example, on 12th January, 2023, while in Davos, on a
WhatsApp chat, she tried to know what I and the DFA were doing about the
payment of the outstanding Nigerian Mission’s 1st Semester Allocation of about
N12,957,103,477, claiming to know the Minister has spoken to the CBN Governor
on the issue.
“In my response, I
told her that Missions’ funding should not concern her, as it was being handled
at the highest level. Her response was ‘Noted Sir. As directed by the Hon.
Minister sir, does it concern Me?’. I wrote back to say, ‘I sorted that out
with the HMFA yesterday’. And she said ‘thank you’. I knew she was angry with
me about that.
“It is clear that there are two issues that have been
worrying Mrs. Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi and were therefore waiting for any
opportunity to get back at me.”
The permanent secretary added that they had exchanged jokes
on many occasions in the presence of other people.
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