"... I laughed and told my daughter not to worry; I'll take it up. I have already taken it up, and we must let these guys know where we're coming from."
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has alleged a threat to his life and daughter amidst the ongoing N10 million 'presidential pardon' allegation involving him, his son, Falz and embattled crossdresser Idris 'Bobrisky' Okuneye.
In September, PREMIUM TIMES reported that social media influencer Martin 'VeryDarkMan' Otse posted a leaked phone call recording which indicted Mr Falana and his son, Falz.
In the leaked audio, Bobrisky alleged that while he was imprisoned at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre, Mr Falana and his son approached him, offering to secure a presidential pardon for a fee of N10 million while serving his six-month jail term.
However, this newspaper reported that Mr Falana denied knowing Bobrisky or ever soliciting N10 million to facilitate a pardon for him. Falz also denied the allegation but admitted that Bobrisky had contacted him for financial assistance of N3 million, which he claimed he hadn't offered.
In defence of his innocence and his son, Mr Falana, during an interview with Sahara Reporters posted on YouTube Monday, revealed that he and his daughter received death threats from VeryDarkMan's supporters.
He said: "The only disturbing area in this scenario is the threat to me and one of my two daughters. Some of these guys, who I believed were mentally derailed, have dared me that if I go to court, they will burn my office, and they've also sent messages to one of my daughters that if your father goes to court, we shall kill you.
"In this country, I laughed and told my daughter not to worry; I'll take it up. I have already taken it up, and we must let these guys know where we're coming from. I have fought against some more dangerous military regimes in Africa, and the fact that I'm alive today."
Presidential Pardon
Additionally, the 66-year-old emphasised that he has never accepted payment for facilitating presidential pardons since he began his legal profession.
He shared a notable experience from 2022, recounting how he successfully secured presidential pardons for six Nigerians out of 20 who had been incarcerated at Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
"In the last 42 years of my legal practice, I have never collected a kobo to write a letter of pardon for anybody, and my work in this area is not limited to Nigeria; the last case of pardon I handled was for six Nigerians among 20 were brought to Kirikiri correctional centre in 2022 and through a prison exchange programme, six of them were forgotten in prison, a lawyer has taken up their matter pro bono and I travelled from High Court to Supreme Court. When their family came to me, I studied the case and contacted the human rights body in Thailand, where they were brought and discovered they were pardoned in 2017, but they were still in Kirikiri in 2022.
"From there, I contacted our ambassador in Thailand to forward the instrument to me because he confirmed my findings. He said he couldn't pass them to me directly but went through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I contacted Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, who was committed to defending the rights of Nigerians. He asked what I wanted, and I said a copy of the 'royal pardon' granted to six Nigerians still in prison; he assured me he'd do the needful, and as soon as he got the letter, he sent it to Thailand, and the instrument of pardon was brought to Nigeria. I wrote a letter to the then Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola. On the day he received the letter, he ordered the release of the six Nigerians," he noted.
Mr Falana characterised the allegations made by VeryDarkMan against him and his son as wholly baseless and unwarranted.
Falz
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) further clarified that Falz never contacted Bobrisky for a presidential pardon, nor did he request N10 million.
He stressed that Falz is a person of principle and decency who would never compromise his values or seek financial support from anyone in such a manner.
He noted, "Most of these guys don't know my son, Falz, even though he's from their generation. He stands out for principle and decency and will never go out of his way to fund me. The guy (Falz) doesn't want anybody to know he's my son; when he started his musical career, he practising but left the legal practice where he was doing very well, and he said Daddy, I'm no longer going to practice but going into the entertainment world.
"When he started, he was invited by NTA for an interview, and he was introduced as Folarin Falz when he came back home because he was living with us then. His mother asked him why he was calling himself Folarin Falz. He asked if he should call himself Folarin Falana so that the name could open for him. He said he didn't want anybody's name to open doors for him but wanted his doors because if he said he was Folarin Falana and the interview was granted, he might have felt because it's his father's name. He said, 'Mum, the day I'll be happy is when they ask you if you're my mother, and they ask my father if he's Falz's dad."'
Moreover, he noted that Falz is not the type who'd call anyone for favours or demand money in any situation.
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He pointed out that Falz and his siblings consistently refer victims of injustice and human rights abuse to him.
"So he has never gone out of his way to introduce himself as Falana's son. Just recently, I told him that you and your sisters sent people to us, and the way you're going, we'll be sending our bill to you, and we laugh over it. He can never do so because he knows it's not our practice to take money for pardon. In the audio, I think the guy was alleged to be saying that Falz had said that my father would help me write a letter. Nigeria is very corrupt; we need N10 million, and he didn't say he'll give me N10 million in the so-called private discussion with somebody.
"Somebody else interpreted the recording by saying that he's disappointed that Falana can take N10 million to write a letter of pardon. I used to have respect for him, so it was uncalled for, and if you said I'm your uncle, why don't you call me and inform me about the allegations flying around that is it true that I collected N10 million to write a letter of pardon?"
This newspaper reported that these allegations have sparked a heated public debate, leading to significant actions such as suspending senior officials at the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), investigations by the EFCC, and a probe initiated by the House of Representatives.
