Femi Falana SAN, a human rights lawyer, has said he is not involved with Bobrisky, a famous crossdresser, and his supposed bribery of prison officials to avoid jail time.
In a video circulating online by a blogger named VeryDarkMan, some EFCC officers reportedly took ₦15 million from Bobrisky to dismiss money laundering charges. VeryDarkMan also claimed that Falana tried to get Bobrisky a presidential pardon in exchange for N10 million.
However, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday monitored by Tunexreportes, Falana stated that he has never met or spoken to Bobrisky. “Bobrisky has never contacted me, we have never crossed paths, I am not familiar with him at all. It was rumored that he had a conversation with my son Folarin (Falz),” Falana explained. He continued, “My son told me that a man asked him for help on May 4th this year. The man wanted N3 million to put in a special section of the prison called the VIP section. My son asked if the man had permission from the prison superintendent, but he said no. So my son told him not to call again because he couldn’t help with bribing the prison officials. He warned my son to be careful since he was already in trouble for a crime.” Next time you want to call me, make sure to go through the superintendent or send a letter approved by the prison authorities. That’s the final step.
Recently, someone began sharing tapes where they made fun of me and tried to damage my reputation by claiming they spoke to me. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria dismissed the accusation as “childish extremism” and mentioned that he has helped 280 convicted individuals receive pardons, both in his country and abroad. He emphasized that neither he nor his law firm has ever asked for or received money from anyone granted a pardon. He explained that he has chosen not to file a criminal complaint because he is leading a team of lawyers in West Africa who are working to make freedom of speech legal. However, he made it clear that this does not give people the right to slander or blackmail others. He stated that they will pursue legal action to clear his name and that of his son.
Falana stated that they aim to use this case as a way to show that no one should just go on social media and say bad things about Nigerians. “We have requested for them to take back their words and say sorry to us, which is fair. If they don’t apologize in a way we find suitable, we will take legal action in court,” he explained. Falana claimed that he has been the most active in revealing corruption in Nigerian correctional facilities. He was surprised that the House of Representatives is forming a panel to investigate the state of the correctional centres in the country.
