Daughter of Femi Falana, renowned human rights lawyer, Folakemi Falana has denied bribery and corruption allegations involving her father and her brother, Falz, linked to Nigerian crossdresser turned transgender, Bobrisky’s recent prison sentence.
Gatekeepers News reports that VeryDarkMan recently took to social media to share a purported audio conversation wherein Bobrisky said that Femi Falana and his son, Falz contacted her.
In the recording, Bobrisky alleged that she spoke with Falz in prison and that the rapper and his dad tried to get her a presidential pardon in exchange for N10 million naira.
Falz responded to the allegation on Wednesday. He described it as a “vicious and reckless” attempt to “impugn my reputation”.
He issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the activist to retract his statement “to avoid legal remedies”.
Reacting also, Folakemi took to her official Instagram account to say the allegations were baseless and defamatory.
She wrote, “Two different letters from Falana & Falana on behalf of our clients Femi Falana SAN and Folarin Falz Falana giving VDM 24 hours to retract his extremely defamatory statements or risk legal action.”
“It’s even crazier that all it takes is for a ridiculous character like VDM to accuse my dad and Falz of bribery, corruption, and perversion of the course of Justice and you suddenly forget who they are and what they stand for.”
Folakemi said rumors circulating online, which social media activist VDM amplified, falsely suggest that her father and brother were complicit in helping Bobrisky secure favorable treatment while in prison.
She added that the allegations were related to an alleged attempt to bribe officers for a presidential pardon rumours.
The lawyer’s daughter further clarified that her father has never had any communication with Bobrisky, either directly or through an intermediary, and Bobrisky approached her brother for financial assistance to secure a VIP spot while in prison.
She said, “My dad has never met or talked to Bobrisky whether directly or via a proxy, Bobrisky reached out to Falz the same way he reached out to many other celebrities asking for money.”
“The reason he gave was so that he stay in the VIP section of prison. He never discussed a presidential pardon with him. He said he was reaching out from prison, Falz had no reason to believe otherwise.”
She noted that her family’s law firm advocates for presidential pardons for Nigerians, free of charge, and that Bobrisky had never approached them for any assistance about that.
Folakemi said, “My Parents and our firm, Falana & Falana have been applying for presidential pardons for Nigerians absolutely FREE way before a lot of you were born or before you could talk.”
“For the record, anyone can write the president to request a pardon for any convicted person in Nigeria. You dont even need to be a lawyer to apply for a pardon.”
“That said, Bobrisky never approached anyone in my family or our firm for presidential pardon.”
Folakemi revealed her family is ready to pursue legal action against VDM for defamation, as he hasn’t retracted his statement.
She concluded, “Seeing as you have refused to do the needful, @verydarkblackman, see you in court.”
