Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has refuted any connection with crossdresser Bobrisky, following accusations by social media critic Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan.
In a viral video, VeryDarkMan claimed that unidentified EFCC officers accepted ₦15 million from Bobrisky to drop money laundering charges and alleged that Falana sought a presidential pardon for Bobrisky in exchange for ₦10 million.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Falana stated that while he won’t pursue criminal charges, he will take civil action to defend his and his son’s reputation.
He said, “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 N3m to be placed in a special part of the priosn, we call it VIP section, and my son asked me, are you calling me under the authorization 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, and that was the last.
“Somebody now said that he listened to a tape somewhere and went out to lampoon however defame 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 decriminalization of freedom of expression. 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.”
VeryDarkMan had Monday apologised to Falana over his derogatory innuendos against the senior lawyer.
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