Femi Falana, renowned human rights lawyer, has categorically denied ever meeting or speaking with popular crossdresser Bobrisky, whose real name is Idris Okuneye.
Gatekeepers News reports that his denial comes on the heels of an audio recording shared by activist VeryDarkMan, where Bobrisky alleged that Falana and his son, Falz, offered to secure a presidential pardon for N10 million.
Falana clarified that Bobrisky reached out to his son, Falz, seeking financial assistance for a VIP section in prison.
However, Falana emphasised that he has never interacted with Bobrisky. He described VeryDarkMan’s actions as “infantile radicalism” and vowed to pursue legal action against the activist if he fails to retract his statements and apologise.
Falana highlighted his track record of assisting 280 convicted individuals in securing pardons without accepting any payment.
He cited instances where he facilitated pardons for convicted soldiers in Nigeria and 200 Nigerians in Libya convicted of drug-related offenses.
“I think it is a question of infantile radicalism. Some of our young people are not prepared to look at the provisions of the law with respect to the law of defamation,” Falana said.
“They just simply go out there to embarrass people. I can say this without fear of contradiction, I have assisted 280 convicted people home and abroad to get pardon. On no occasion did our law firm demand for or receive a dime or kobo from anybody granted pardon.
“Bobrisky never spoke to me, I have never met him, I do not know him from Adam. He was alleged to have spoken to my son Folarin (referring to Falz)
“I have resisted the temptation to file a criminal complaint because I’m leading a team of lawyers in West Africa campaigning for decriminalisation of freedom of expression.
“We have succeeded in getting Liberia, Ghana, and Sierra Leone to decriminalise freedom of expression. We are still appealing to other countries in the region but that is not license for defaming and blackmailing people.
- “We are not going to file a criminal complaint. We won’t be pushed to do that. What we are going to do is to embark on civil proceedings with a view of restoring our integrity — my own name and that of my son — so that nobody will simply rush to the social media to defame any Nigerian. We want to make an example.”
