A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has publicly denied any association with controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky.
This comes in response to claims circulating on social media that Falana was involved in securing Bobrisky’s release from prison through financial deals.
In a viral audio posted by popular blogger Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan, Bobrisky allegedly confessed to bribing Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials with N15 million to drop money laundering charges.
In the same audio, the crossdresser claimed that her “godfather” and the Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, helped ensure she served her sentence in a private apartment rather than in prison.
Further fueling the controversy, VeryDarkMan claimed that Falana sought a presidential pardon for Bobrisky in exchange for N10 million.
The activist has since apologized to Falana during a House of Representatives Joint Committee hearing, retracting his derogatory statements against the lawyer.
However, speaking during interview on Thursday, Falana strongly denied ever meeting Bobrisky or being involved in any financial dealings with her. Falana stated, “Bobrisky never spoke to me, I have never met him, I do not know him from Adam.”
Falana revealed that the only connection to the case was through his son, Folarin Falana (popularly known as Falz), who received a call from Bobrisky requesting N3 million to secure a spot in the VIP section of the prison. Falz refused the request, warning Bobrisky not to contact him again unless authorized by the prison authorities.
Clarifying his role in helping convicted individuals, Falana noted that he has facilitated pardons for over 280 people without ever receiving payment.
He emphasized that the accusations linking him to Bobrisky were entirely false and aimed at defaming his reputation.
Falana concluded, “Somebody started releasing tapes and defaming me by claiming I had spoken to Bobrisky. That is completely untrue.”