More Trouble For Lemuwa As Petition Against Him Addressed To President Tinubu Surfaces

Some officers in the federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs have accused Ibrahim Lamuwa, the suspended permanent secretary, of sexual harassment and other infractions. They have also called for a review of the ambassadorial postings he oversees.

In June, Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi, a married female aide to Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar, accused Lamuwa of sexual harassment.
Lamuwa denied the allegation, claiming that he turned down Ajayi’s request to pay her bills during an overseas trip, which led to the hatchet job on him.

Following Ajayi’s allegation and the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ subsequent request to the Head of Service for an inquiry into the case, the permanent secretary was investigated by the Office of the Head of Service, National Assembly, and ICPC.

However, a new twist was introduced to the entire issue when some employees in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the aegis of “concerned and patriotic foreign service officers,” wrote to President Bola Tinubu on July 3, claiming that Ajayi’s accusation against Lamuwa was not the first of its kind.

They also stated that sexual harassment allegations against the permanent secretary have become a “recurring feature in his entire public service career,” including harassment of children.

They also claimed in the letter that: “His unrestrained sexual assaults and harassment of minors and women is legendary.

“Cases include harassment of neighbours’ children by a young officer while occupying government property at the foreign affairs quarters in Gwarimpa, Abuja; the humiliating removal from his post in Canada to avoid an impending declaration of persona non-grata (PNG); and sexual assault cases involving a large number of locally recruited staff in our mission in Dakar, Senegal.”

“In Senegal, while serving as ambassador and principal representative of Mr President, ambassador Lamuwa threatened a female bank official in charge of the embassy’s account that if she did not agree to engage in sexual activities with him, the mission’s account would be transferred to another financial institution.”

“It took a voice recording of the incident for Ambassador Lamuwa to abandon his inherent evil intentions.

“More recently, at the ministry’s headquarters, a married female police officer tasked with implementing presidential reforms could not withstand the intense pressure, succumbing to Ambassador Lamuwa’s threat and being duly rewarded for her compliance in the yet-to-be-released 2024 posting exercise without due diligence.

“All of these incidents could have been avoided if the ministry’s administration had a system of checks and balances in place, including the appointment of undersecretaries.”

Aside from sexual harassment, the group accused the permanent secretary of sabotaging the ministry.
“Over the last 24 months, all Nigerian missions abroad have received 20% of their budgeted allocation.”

They claimed: “The affected missions wrote to Amb. Lamuwa more than 21 months ago, requested that the budget shortfall caused by the government’s policy on the unification of the exchange rate be brought to Mr President’s attention, but Ambassador Lamuwa instead devised a plan to suffocate missions and exploit the unfortunate situation for his gain.

“With the assistance of the director of finance and account (DFA), Amb. Lamuwa suppressed all missions’ desperate appeals and began to peddle a misrepresentation to the honourable minister of foreign affairs and other high-level government officials that missions are financially sound and that the only reason they were writing was that officers at posts who are diligently serving the country wanted an excuse not to return.” Even after several inquiries from the state house, Amb. Lamuwa persisted in his covetous plot.

“The far-reaching implication is that the jaundiced posting, which he orchestrated and implemented, will give him unrestricted control over all missions, surpassing Mr President and the honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

They stated that embassies and offices in Asia—Rome, Geneva, Brussels, Tehran, and Bern—are in debt and unable to pay rent and salaries.

They accused Lamuwa of demonstrating impunity by claiming to have close ties to State House officials, particularly the vice president’s office.

“Ambassador Lamuwa is not an example of what the civil service should promote or be proud of, as he has demonstrated significant disrespect and disregard for the service and government processes,” the group concluded.
“Such individuals pose a significant threat to society and should be confined to rehabilitation or correctional facilities.”

The concerned Ministry foreign affairs officers requested that President Tinubu “direct a broader investigation of the issues raised in the letter to ascertain the facts and take appropriate action.”

According to a high-ranking ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the letter was written by a faceless group who are looking for ways to undermine Lamuwa’s ambassadorial position.

He stated: “The rule is that if you are writing a petition, you should be bold enough to include your names on it. And that the excuse that the officials may be victimised is never acceptable because it would be difficult to prosecute officers numbering more than ten in the civil service for writing a petition.”

He also stated that, contrary to the foreign service’s rule that career officers should not lobby for postings, many career ambassadors awaiting postings are lobbying emirs, kings, imams, pastors, and presidential officials to assist them in obtaining what they perceive to be a favourable and lucrative posting.

He stated that while the allegations against Lamuwa are already public, the faceless petition to the president without first addressing the minister was a ploy to undermine the entire process of ambassadorial posting, which is nearly completed, to smuggle some names from the list and position them for “juicy” postings.