The federal government has launched an investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the coming of Switzerland's Ambassador to Nigeria with a male spouse alleged to be his gay partner.
According to a report on DailyTrust, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has launched an investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the coming of Switzerland’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Eric Mayooraz, with a male spouse alleged to be his gay partner.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was aware that the ambassador who was posted to Nigeria last year to head the Swiss mission, was alleged to have arrived the country in the company of his gay partner, a Brazilian whose name was given simply as Mr. Carlos.
The ministry who has already commenced a probe on the matter disclosed that efforts to register Mayooraz as a member of the Association of Spouses of Heads of Mission (ASOHOM) in Nigeria have been generating controversy.
When the embassy was asked to introduce the male partner of the ambassador to ASOHOM as a member, the association denied Carlos membership, saying it does accept male partners as members of the association, the response from the embassy reads:
"The Swiss Ambassador is not married. As he is not married, the Swiss Ambassador, upon request of the President of the ASOHOM, designated an employee of the Embassy, the Administrator/Intendant of the Swiss Residence, to represent him in ASOHOM, which created some misunderstanding among members.
"As this designation seemed not to be accepted by some of the members, the Swiss Ambassador decided to withdraw from the association in December 2015."
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Akinremi Bolaji, said it had been brought to the notice of the ministry that an envoy had a male spouse in the country.
In a telephone chat with a correspondent, Bolaji said: "We are aware of the development and have started investigation. It is either they have deceived us because we would never have allowed such a person to enter the country if we were aware before now. We have a law, which must be obeyed by all. If we find him culpable, he will be made to face the full wrath of the law."
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