Reps summon Bobrisky over bribery allegation against EFCC, NCoS

An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives has summoned cross-dresser Idris Ogunleye, popularly known as Bobrisky, to clear the air over allegations of bribery levelled against officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).

The committee, chaired by Mr. Ginger Obinna Onwusibe, issued the directive after rejecting the request by Bobrisky’s counsel, Mr. Averosoghene Omuvwie, to represent him at the hearing.

Omuvwie had informed the lawmakers that Bobrisky could not appear in person to testify on the matter because he was under the weather.

The legal practitioner explained that Bobrisky’s absence should not be misconstrued as a lack of respect for the institution of the National Assembly.

Nevertheless, the committee eventually convinced social media influencer and blogger, Micheal Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, to present his own side of the story regarding the matter.

VeryDarkMan, who initially declined to speak due to Bobrisky’s absence, submitted part of the recording to the committee, alleging that the EFCC dropped the money laundering charges against Bobrisky after collecting a bribe totalling N15 million.

Accompanied by his counsel, Deji Adeyanju, he suggested that the charges must have been dropped after money exchanged hands.

However, EFCC prosecutor Bilqis Buhari, who recalled when the Bobrisky case file came up on April 4, 2024, explained that they dropped the 5th and 6th charges from the charge sheet after Bobrisky made confessional statements regarding naira abuse when he was arraigned in court.

Denying any bribe or inducement, she maintained that amending charges is not unusual while prosecuting cases, adding that it did not contradict any provision of the law.

“There was no form of financial inducement to any member of the commission. Everything we did was in line with the core values of the commission,” she noted.