The top official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied the sexual harassment allegations.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) has issued a query to Ibrahim Lamuwa, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, over alleged sexual harassment reported against him.
Mr Lamuwa, who served as Nigeria's Ambassador to Senegal with concurrent accreditation to Mauritania before his appointment as Permanent Secretary, was accused of sexually harassing Simisola Fajemirokun-Ajayi, an aide to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Tuggar forwarded Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi's petition which he received from her lawyers to the OHCSF for investigation.
While the minister is the overall head of the ministry who is responsible for policy implementation, the permanent secretary, next to him in hierarchy, is responsible for the running of the day-to-day affairs of the ministry.
Muhammed Ahmed, Deputy-Director of Communication in the OHCSF, on Wednesday in Abuja, confirmed that Mr Lamuwa has been queried over the matter.
"Lamuwa was queried in accordance with the Civil Service rules and regulations," he told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to him, the query is to give the accused a fair hearing.
"His response will set the path for further necessary action."
He also hinted that there would be "unhindered investigation into the alleged case of sexual harassment".
"We are following the procedure in the civil service. The case shall be fully investigated," he said.
Permanent secretary denies allegations
But PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Lamuwa has since submitted his response to the petition, which he denied.
In the response sent to the office of the head of service, Mr Lamuwa addressed each alleged incident mentioned in the complainant's petition, saying they were maliciously misconstrued as sexual harassment.
He also made a counter-accusation, alleging that Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi's "malicious claims" against him were triggered by his constant rejection of her "improper requests" about the ministry's finances.
A particular instance, according to him, was when Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi, who is unfamiliar with civil service rules and processes, asked for access to policy files and even financial records of high-level ministry activities.
"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, not a civil servant. Thus, finance and policy matters are out of her bounds in this instance," the letter read.
He argued that the petition was only shared online to gather public attention and sympathy for her "unsubstantiated claims."
Complainant's petition
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi alleged in her petition that Mr Lamuwa's sexual harassment became so persistent and troubling to the point that she began to be apprehensive about getting raped, raising concerns about her safety in the workplace.
She alleged that Mr Lamuwa's conduct created an unsafe work environment for her, especially as her roles required her to work closely with and report to him often.
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According to her, the top official made inappropriate remarks and advances to her on different occasions, causing her to be apprehensive and uncomfortable with carrying out her duties.
One of such incidents, she said, occurred on 7 October 2023 when the permanent secretary inappropriately suggested to her to visit his hotel room at the end of President Bola Tinubu's 4D policy review, an event which was ongoing at the time.
She said the top official initially approached her to inquire as to why she did not sleep at the hotel and then informed her that he would want her to come to his room after the event.
"Our client explained that she was a nursing mother and needed to go home to care for her baby," her lawyers wrote.
(NAN)
