The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has defended himself of allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a colleague, Simisola Fajemirokun-Ajayi, saying it is an attempt to get back at him for refusing her financial demands.
Lamuwa also accused Fajemirokun-Ajayi of demanding access to policy files and financial records of the ministry from him, adding that his refusal to make the documents available to her was the reason she was trying to get back at him.
The permanent secretary is currently in the eye of the storm after his colleague, through human rights lawyer,Femi Falana, wrote a petition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, accusing him of sexually harassing her and making the workplace uncomfortable for her.
Following the petition, the minister wrote to the head of service of the federation (HoS), Folasade Yemi-Esan, to investigate, in the light of the gravity of the allegations.
In response to the allegation, Lamuwa cited an instance when he failed to pay Ajayi’s bills on an official trip to Davos, saying it was the reason for her accusation.
The permanent secretary said he has never sexually harassed her but has maintained a professional relationship with all his subordinates.
“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 sexual 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.,” he stated.
Continuing, Lamuwa said “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.”
He maintained that they had exchanged jokes on many occasions in the presence of other people.
