…Sources Insist it is a Product of Lobbyists for Juicy Ambassadorial Postings

By: Michael Mike

Some faceless officers of the federal ministry of foreign affairs have accused Ibrahim Lamuwa, suspended permanent secretary in the ministry, of  “multiple cases of sexual harassment and other infractions, even as they called for the review of ambassadorial posting that he oversaw.

In June, Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi, a married female aide of Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, accused Lamuwa of sexual harassment and
allegation denied by Lamuwa, who claimed that he turned down Ajayi’s request to pay her bills during an overseas trip and was the reason for the hatchet job on him.

The permanent secretary following allegation from Ajayi and subsequent request to the Head of Service by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for enquiry into the case had faced probe from the Office of Head of Service, National Assembly and ICPC.

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

They added 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 alleged in the letter that: “His unbridled sexual assaults and harassment on minors and women is legendary.

“Cases include harassment of neighbours’ children, as a young officer, while occupying government property at the foreign affairs quarters in Gwarimpa, Abuja; the inglorious 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, saddled with the management of the embassy’s account, that he would ensure the movement of the mission’s account to another financial institution in the event that she does not agree to engage in sexual activities with him.

“It took the voice recording of the incident before Ambassador Lamuwa could withdraw from his inherent evil intentions.

“More recently at the ministry’s headquarters, a married female policy officer tasked with the implementation of presidential reforms could not resist the intense pressure, and she succumbed to Ambassador Lamuwa’s threat and was duly rewarded for her compliance in the yet-to-be-released 2024 posting exercise without due diligence.

“All these incidents could have been avoided if a system of checks and balances was in place in the administration of the ministry, with the appointment of under-secretaries.”

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

They claimed: “The affected missions wrote to Amb. Lamuwa, more than 21 months ago, to appeal for the budget shortfall, a result of the government’s policy on the unification of the exchange rate, to be brought to the attention of Mr President, but Ambassador Lamuwa rather devised a plan to suffocate missions and utilize the untoward situation for his personal gains.

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

“The far-reaching implication is that the jaundiced posting, as he had orchestrated and implemented, will give him unimpeded control over all the missions more than Mr President and the honourable minister of foreign affairs.”

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

They accused Lamuwa of demonstrating impunity by claiming to be well-connected to principals at the State House, particularly the office of the vice-president.

“Ambassador Lamuwa is not an example of what the civil service should promote or be proud of, as he has indeed shown great disrespect and disregard for the service and government processes,” the group added.
“Such individuals are a potent threat to society and should be confined to the walls of rehabilitation or correction facilities.”

The concerned ministry of foreign affairs officers asked President Tinubu to “direct a wider investigation of the issues stated in the letter to ascertain the facts and for necessary actions”.

A highly placed officer in the ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the letter by the faceless group who the product of those who are looking for ways to rubbish the ambassadorial posting that Lamuwa superintended over.

He said: “The rule is that if you are writing a petition you should be bold enough to put your names on it. And that the excuse that the officials might be victimized is never acceptable as it would be hard to persecute officers that may be more than ten in the civil service for writing a petition.”

He added that at the moment against the rule of the foreign service that career officers should not lobby for posting many career ambassadors waiting to be posted are lobbying emirs, kings, imams, pastors and officials in the presidency to help them get what they see as favourable and juicy posting.

He said while it is already in the public domain the allegations against Lamuwa, but the faceless petition to the president without first addressing it to the minister was a ploy to rubbish the entire process of ambassadorial posting which is almost concluded in order to smuggle some names of the list and to position them for “juicy” postings.

Faceless Petition Against Lamuwa Addressed to President Tinubu Surfaces