Reno Omokri, a social analyst, asserted that Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, was sentenced to prison for reasons other than the Naira abuse he was found guilty of.
Bobrisky was sentenced to six months in prison without the possibility of a fine by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday for naira mutilation.
In response, Omokri alleged that the Nigerian government had clamped down on the transvestite using the Naira abuse allegations as a pretext. He claimed that although the Nigerian government was “aware of the fact that any direct move in that regard would earn it the whip of the Western powers,” it nevertheless wished to crack down on the cross-dressing culture that was becoming popular in the nation.
On Monday, on his X account, he wrote: “What happened with Bobrisky just shows you the savviness of Nigeria compared to other nations and the intellectual response to governing on display by the current administration.
“The Nigerian government obviously wanted to clamp down on the trending cross-dressing culture in Nigeria. But the government was also aware of the fact that any direct move in that regard would earn it the whip of the Western powers.
“The Tinubu administration was in a dilemma. How to deal with Bobrisky for being a cross-dresser but not to make it about his being a cross-dresser. And this is where you have to respect the subtlety of the Tinubu administration. They found a creative genius way.
“Bobrisky violated a law against the abuse of the Naira. That is why a first-time offender committed an offense that even government officials engaged in during Buhari’s son’s wedding, and, despite pleading guilty, was sentenced to six months in prison.
“In fact, there is more video evidence of Naira abuse via spraying at the wedding of no less a person than Abdul Aziz Malami, the son of Abubakar Malami, SAN, Nigeria’s Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
“And the scapegoating of Bobrisky has worked. Since his arrest, have you seen any of his ‘colleagues’ prancing about?
“We used to see them almost daily on blogs and social media. The traditional media, too, could not have enough of them. They got the memo. They have run for cover since the Chairwoman answered to the gender of male in court when asked to state ‘her’ gender.”