Nigerian rapper and songwriter Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has given Verydarkman a 24-hour ultimatum to retract his allegations that Falz and his father, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), were involved in aiding Bobrisky to drop money laundering charges.
The ultimatum is in response to a viral audio recording released by Verydarkman on September 24, 2024, where Bobrisky alleged that unnamed Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officers received ₦15 million to drop the charges. Bobrisky also claimed that a SAN and his son facilitated the dismissal of the charges and his avoidance of imprisonment.
This accusation sparked widespread reactions on social media, making Falz a trending topic.Falz has demanded that Verydarkman withdraw his allegations within 24 hours, threatening legal action if the ultimatum is not met.
The statement in part read,
Your publication of September 25, 2024, on your Instagram page captioned “In everything and everyone that is mentioned here, I will be disappointed if truly FALZ and his father are involved in this whole Bobrisky issue…” has been drawn to our notice wherein you made some defamatory statements against our client. To set the records straight, our client never at any point initiated a conversation with Mr Idris Okuneye. Our client has documentary evidence that Mr. Idris was in fact the one who initiated a call.
Specifically, on the 4th of May 2024, Mr Idris Okuneye (AKA Bobrisky) contacted our client requesting a phone conversation with him. Our client gratuitously obliged, having knowledge of the Naira abuse charges leveled against him, and genuinely believing he might require legal advice.
Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) called shortly after but instead of soliciting legal advice, stated that he was in distress and needed financial assistance of about N3,000,000 (Three million Naira) which he claimed he needed to pay some officials to be permitted to stay in the VIP section of the Correctional Centre. Our client, in the same conversation, advised him that there was no need to pay the officials of the Correctional Centre any money.
However, Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) stated that his lawyers had messed up his case by asking him to plead guilty to the charges filed against him. Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) insisted on his request for the money which our client continuously disapproved.
Without contacting our client, you went ahead to publish a careless statement containing multiple allegations including an insinuation that our client is involved in a homosexual affair and intended to get a presidential pardon for, Mr Idris Okuneye. The direct meaning, imputation, purport and/or innuendo of the false, misleading and defamatory statement is that:
1. Our client, Mr Folarin Falana (Aka Falz) connived with Bobrisky to pervert the cause of justice and he is complicit in the upturning of justice for financial gains.
2. Our client is participating in a device that constitutes subterfuge and lacks integrity, in concert with others with whom you also characterize as corrupt
3. Our client’s posturing as a human rights activist is deceitful and false The entire publication was a vicious, wicked and reckless ploy to impugn the reputation of our client and lower him in the estimation of right-thinking members of the public.
We, therefore, demand an immediate retraction of the offensive and derogatory publication as well as an apology prominently published on all the platforms to which you have disseminated it without any justification whatsoever.”
