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New Twist In Abuja S3x Scandal As Accused Perm Sec Breaks Silence
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Lamuwa, has denied the allegation of s*xual harassment leveled against him by a female aide of the minister, Mrs Simisola Fajemirokun-Ajayi.
The allegation was brought by Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi, a married employee of the ministry, through a petition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, filed by her lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN).
The petition detailed alleged instances of s*xual harassment and other misconduct by the permanent secretary.
However, credible sources close to the lawyers of the permanent secretary described the allegations as false, saying he is a man of integrity who built his career over the years with integrity.
In a document seen by our correspondent, the embattled permanent secretary, through his lawyers, denied the allegations.
The document read: “We are legal representatives of Ambassador Ibrahim Lamuwa (hereinafter referred to as “our client”), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and have been authorised to make the following statement on his behalf, in response to allegations of s*xual harassment levelled against him by Mrs Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi, an aide to the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“The media, particularly the social media has been inundated with the digital copy of a petition written by legal representatives of Mrs. Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi against Amb. Lamuwa. This petition was clearly leaked in order to generate sympathy for her unsubstantiated claims.
“We wish to state categorically that our client has never made any s*xual advances towards Mrs. Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi, who he is aware is a married woman, neither has he ever made suggestive comments or innuendos that requested any form of untoward relationship between himself and her.
“Our client distinctly recalls the events that took place at the ministry’s retreat on October 7th 2023 where Mrs Simisola O. Fajemirokun-Ajayi claims that he invited her to his room. Our client states categorically that, he never made such an invitation and that his only communication with Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi, which was an overt one, was where he checked on her, like he did to all participants on whether they had been well-lodged in their hotels.
He further recalls that the instance where he spoke of her as a nursing mother, during the same retreat was in a colloquial conversation they were having with other participants, where one participant even responded jokingly that when a woman says “her baby” it could mean either her husband or one of her children, of which he innocuously joked asking “how big is the baby?” Our client maintains that those conversations were made jokingly and sees their misinterpretation as malicious and with ill-intent.
“Our client also maintains that it is an absurdity for Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi to claim that he invited her to Hong Kong, given that the conversation they were both having was on how Honk Kong had digitised its work processes as far back as 1999. Our client wonders how such a conversation became interpreted as an invitation for her to travel alongside himself knowing fully well that she is an aide to the minister. How can she possibly leave the minister to follow the permanent secretary, on a vacation? Would that not be the height of delusion for the one requesting, as well as the one heeding to the request?
“It is clear that the minister’s aide has misinterpreted ordinary conversations, made openly and in the presence of other participants, for untoward intentions. We believe that these allegations are directly tied to our client’s firm objections raised regarding improper requests that Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi made, particularly to financial matters in the ministry.
“For example, Mrs. Fajemirokun-Ajayi made a trip to the World Economic Forum (Davos), of which she sought a reimbursement from the ministry for. Our client firmly explained to her that while the ministry may look at avenues to refund her expenses, it is not the appropriate process for a trip to be made without an approval, and then funded with taxpayers money. after the fact.
“Further to this, is the fact of Mrs Fajemirokun-Ajayi’s unfamiliarity with civil service rules and processes where she had requested from our client access to policy files and even financial records of high-level activities of the ministry. 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, and not a civil servant. Thus, matters of finance and policy are out of bounds for her in this instance.
It is crucial to mention that our client, in all his 32 years of service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, never received a query nor a report against him bordering on harassment, let alone, s*xual harassment. In the course of this period, our client has served in Hong Kong, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Syria and more recently, Senegal, and there has never been a negative report on his conduct in any of these countries.
“Ambassador Lamuwa has also served for nine years in the State House. From the office of the vice president, to the office of the chief of staff to the president, and to the office of the president, and no negative report or allegation of any kind has ever been raised against him,” the response said
Source: Daily Trust
By Mario Deepromoter
Ukraine on Friday restricted the use of Telegram for its government, military and security officials, citing “threats” to national security on the app founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov.
“The National Security and Defence Council decided to restrict the use of Telegram in government agencies, military formations and critical infrastructure facilities,” the council said in a statement on Facebook, saying it was a “matter of national security.”
By Mario Deepromoter
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday, announced the commencement of the 2024 Olojo Festival, revealing the event’s ancestral and spiritual significance.
Ogunwusi spoke at his palace during a news conference on the 2024 Olojo Festival with the theme “Evolving Transformationaly Domestic Tourism With Community Festivals.”
According to him, the festival is significant because of the spiritual exercises that characterise it and the testimonies it attracts.
He said the celebration of the revered cultural event was held annually in the ancient city to celebrate the day of the first dawn.
The Ooni said the festival was in remembrance of “Ogun,” god of iron, who is believed to be the first son of Oduduwa, progenitor of the Yoruba people.
He added that the festival marked the birth of the “Aare Crown”.
Ooni said that several prayers rendered to Olodumare through the iconic “Aare crown” during the Olojo festival had been answered with so many testimonies.
He stated, “Olojo is the festival of dawn and the birth of the crown, “Ade Aare”, the crown of all crowns. The crown that gave birth to all crowns all over the world with all the colours of the rainbow. It is called the spectrum of rainbow crowns.
“The crown does everything humans do, it is a very spiritual crown, very sacred. I am a living example and witness. I have actually charged the crown, I have prayed with it, that I want this done, this particular time.
“This is my ninth year on the throne, going to my tenth year by the grace of God, I have seen a lot of testimonies.
“I will pray with the crown worn on my head, I pray to the almighty God, Olodumare through the crown. I have never seen any failure in it. It is our strong heritage, our strong culture and tradition and we will continue to uphold it forever.
He added that they were not idol worshipers, but rather custodians of their ancestors’ legacy, which continued to benefit them.
“These are things we should not joke about, It is our heritage, we should not compromise it with anything. It is created by nature, by God Almighty who is the supreme being,” he said.
Explaining the nature of the “Ade Aare”, Ooni described the crown as a sacred, mysterious being which bears the nature of humans.
According to him, the crown functions like humans.
He said, “Olojo is the time when the crown comes out for blessings. This is a crown that has life in it till date, right from time immemorial.
“The crown changes the weather, it does not see the atmosphere except once in a year, during Olojo festival.
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“In the crown, we see everything complete, we see the day, night, four corners of the world, the northern, southern, eastern and western poles.
“The birth of the crown is actually the first dawn pathfinded by Ogun, which is linked to our celebration.”
The Ooni added, “Olojo is the main new year celebration and this dovetails to everybody’s new yam festival all over because what is used to bring out yams are cutlasses and hoes made with iron.
“This is the time we get beautiful harvests, the time we get wallnuts, bitter kola. For us in Ile-Ife, we still uphold our heritage and that is why we celebrate the first dawn.”
Ogunwusi appreciated the sponsors for the festival.
“I want to appreciate you all, our sponsors, for everything you have been doing. For always responding to my calls. May God bless you and may our ancestors guide you all. I appreciate the state government as well,” he added.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Osun, Abiodun Bankole-Ojo, appealed to sponsors of the Olojo festival to look into the possibility of developing some tourism sites within the state, like the Oranmiyan Groove.
“Please corporate bodies, stop giving us monetary and material gifts, come and develop the Oranmiyan site as a tourist site. Government will not be able to do it all,” he said.
The Olojo Festival Chief Consultant, Ayo Olumoko, urged Nigerians and international tourists to grace the festival.
NAN reports that the Grand Finale for the 2024 edition of the annual Olojo Festival in Ile-Ife, will be held between September 26 and September 30.
On September 26, there will be Ayo Olopon Traditional Game, Festival Cultural Talent Hunt (Audition) and Olojo Festival Colloquium.
On September 27, there will be Ojo Ilagun, Iwode Ile-Ife (Community cleansing) and Oonirisa’s terrestrial message to the world.
September 28 is the festival’s grand finale official ceremony, Ojo Okemogun, and the Aare cultural procession.
September 29 is Ojo Ajoyo (Asekagba), Grand Royal Reception – Invitational, Adire Oodua Cultural Exchange Exhibition and Oonirisa’s Ife Award for Community Service, 2024.
September 30 would be for the Ojo Ibile (Oonirisa’s ancestral traditional propitiation) and cultural talents hunt.
By Mario Deepromoter
Trump expressed concern about his polling numbers among Jewish voters, lamenting his current standing compared to Harris, the Democratic candidate.
President Donald Trump suggested that Jewish-American voters could bear some responsibility if he loses the upcoming presidential election to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump expressed concern about his polling numbers among Jewish voters, lamenting his current standing compared to Harris, the Democratic candidate.
Reuters reports that Trump claimed that Israel could face extinction within two years if Kamala Harris wins the election, suggesting that Jewish voters who support Democrats would share some responsibility for that outcome.
Speaking to a crowd, Trump stated, “If I don’t win this election, the Jewish community will play a significant role in that. If 40% or even 60% of people are voting for the enemy, Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years.”
He referenced a poll indicating that Harris had 60% support among American Jews.
Although he didn’t specify which poll he was citing, a recent Pew Research survey showed American Jews favouring Harris over Trump by 65% to 34%.
Trump also expressed disappointment over winning less than 30% of the Jewish vote in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Trump reiterated similar sentiments earlier at a summit in Washington aimed at combating antisemitism in the U.S.
The Trump campaign has prioritised appealing to Jewish voters in critical battleground states, where even a small shift in support could influence the election outcome.
In Pennsylvania, for instance, there are over 400,000 Jewish residents, and Biden won the state by just 81,000 votes in 2020.
In response to Trump’s comments, Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, criticised him for his past associations with individuals accused of antisemitism.
Trump has consistently denied allegations of antisemitism, noting his Jewish son-in-law during his speeches on Thursday.
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