- Safiu Kehinde
Popular Nigerian Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, has broken silence over his alleged involvement in bribery scandal involving crossdresser, Idris Okuneye (Bobrisky).
Speaking at a recent interview on Channels TV, Falana claimed he never knew Bobrisky and never had conversation with him.
The lawyer, however, disclosed how the crossdresser had appealed to son, Folarin Falana (Falz), for N3 million to pay for a spot in the VIP section of the prison- an appeal which the lawyer claimed Falz rejected.
“Bobrisky never spoke to me, I have never met him, I don’t know him from Adam. He was alleged to have spoken to my son, Folarin, Falz.
“My son said this guy was appealing to him for assistance, and called my son, please, can you give me N3million to be placed in a special part of the prison; we call it VIP section.
“And my son asked, are you calling me under the authorisation of the superintendent of prisons, he said “No, please don’t call me again.
“I’m unable to assist you to bribe the prison authorities, and please be careful since you are already in jail for an offence, and if you are going to call me next time, you can either do it through the superintendent or write a letter endorsed by the prison authorities” Falana said.
Meanwhile, Falana disclosed that he chose not to take legal action against social media influencer and activist, Martins Vincent Otse (VeryDarkMan), who leaked the controversial voice note and called out the lawyer over his alleged involvement in the scandal.
“Somebody now said that he listened to a tape somewhere and he went out to lampoon, however, defamed me. My son has never negotiated fix on behalf of anybody.
“On the contrary, my three children normally refer people who need assistance to me.
“Now what I am going to do: I have resisted the temptation to file a criminal complaint because I am leading a team of lawyers in West Africa, campaigning for decriminalisation of freedom of expression.” Falana continued.
As against his daughter’s threat to drag VeryDarkMan to court, Falana said he will not file criminal complaint against the activist.
“In this case, we are not going to file a criminal complaint, we won’t be pushed to do that. What we will do is embark on civil proceedings with a view to restoring our integrity, my own name and that of my son.” Falana said.