The Ad Hoc Committee on Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loots Movable and Immovable Assets from 2002 to 2020 by Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Effective Efficient Management and Utilization in the House of Representatives is at a loss for how to resolve a brewing crisis between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.
On Tuesday, we learned that AMCON was claiming certain assets that had been recovered and forfeited by Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Our correspondent was told by a major committee member that the EFCC had approached the committee to prevent AMCON from getting the assets, some of which were said to have been used as collateral to secure loans from various banks
The lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there was suspicion that AMCON’s move might be an avenue to retrieve the assets from the custody of the EFCC and the Federal Government by extension.
The source said, “EFCC is complaining that AMCON is moving to possess some of the assets already seized and forfeited by looters. AMCON is claiming that some of the assets were already in possession of banks before EFCC approached courts to secure permanent forfeiture of the same assets.
“The assets include those retrieved from the so-called Diezani boys such as Aluko and Omokore.“Indeed, some of the banks have the original documents to claim the assets but the issue now is how to determine how a financial agreement can supersede a court order on the same assets.”
The World Bank has responded to President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement that his administration has pulled 10 million people out of poverty, claiming that increased food prices have driven seven million people into poverty.
The president’s and World Bank’s statements came at a time when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that inflation fell by 0.19 percent in May 2021, despite growing public uproar over the high cost of basic necessities such as food, medicine, and other necessities.
Experts said the World Bank’s decision was unsurprising, given that the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country’s most reputable statistics gathering and analysis organization, had come to the same conclusion and analysis outfit had in the past months showed how inflation was pushing the cost of commodities higher.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, quoting the World Bank said: “Food prices accounted for over 60% of the total increase in inflation. Rising prices have pushed an estimated 7 million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone.”
The statement signed by the bank’s spokesman, Mansir Nasir, cited the latest World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU), titled: ‘Resilience through Reforms”.
It reads; “It said while the government took measures to protect the economy against a much deeper recession, it would be essential to set policy foundations for a strong recovery.
“The figure which was based on data for last year indicated that the Nigerian economy experienced a shallower contraction of -1.8 per cent than had been projected at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (-3.2%) in 2020.
“Although the economy started to grow again, prices are increasing rapidly, severely impacting Nigerian households,” it stated.
“The global lender advised the Nigerian government not to fail in sustaining and deepening reforms to cushion the economic downturn given the “more favourable external environment, with recovering oil prices and growth in advanced economies.”
According to the World Bank: “A failure to sustain and deepen reforms would threaten both macroeconomic sustainability and policy credibility, thereby limiting the government’s ability to address gaps in human and physical capital which is needed to attract private investment.”
Commenting, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, said, “Nigeria faces interlinked challenges in relation to inflation, limited job opportunities, and insecurity.
“While the government has made efforts to reduce the effect of these by advancing long-delayed policy reforms, it is clear that these reforms will have to be sustained and deepened for Nigeria to realise its development potential.”
On his part, the World Bank Lead Economist for Nigeria and co-author of the NDU Report, Marco Hernandez, said: “Given the urgency to reduce inflation amidst the pandemic, a policy consensus and expedite reform implementation on exchange-rate management, monetary policy, trade policy, fiscal policy and social protection would help save lives, protect livelihoods and ensure a faster and sustained recovery.”
The World Bank in the NDU report also faulted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its management of the foreign exchange (forex) regime saying it was the reason for the current crisis.
The US dollar exchanged for around N509 at the parallel market on Monday.
“The way the exchange rate was managed limited access to FX and thus adversely affected investor confidence and investment appetite,” it stated.
The disparity between the official I&E Foreign Exchange Window (IEFX) and the parallel market has widened to as high as N90 in recent weeks due to a combination of speculation, demand and fear of future devaluation of the currency.
According to the World Bank, “Significant spreads between the official, the IEFX, and the parallel exchange rate persisted throughout 2020 and as of April 2021, the spread between the official and the IEFX rate was estimated at 8% and between the IEFX and the parallel rate, reached 18% (the spread between the official and the parallel rate was 27%).”
Our correspondent reports that the CBN recently made its biggest move yet in unifying the exchange rate after it dumped its long-held official rate for the IEFX rate published by the FMDQOTC.
The apex bank also extended the Cash4Dollar scheme introduced back in March hoping in a bid to drive more diaspora inflows into the banking system.
“In May 2021, the CBN formally took concrete steps towards rate unification between the official and IEFX rates. However, there remains a 20 per cent premium between this unified rate and the parallel market rate.
“While this may indeed encourage the use of the formal channels, it is not clear that incentive payments will increase remittances to the country,” the World Bank remarked on the CBN’s Cash4Dollar scheme.
The World Bank recommended that the Central Bank should allow the IEFX market to function as it should by allowing a more market-friendly approach for exchange rate transactions. Rather than allow an unreliable way of reporting exchange rate prices.
The World Bank believes a return to a flexible exchange rate regime (post-2015 and pre-2020) will allow for limited interventions by the CBN.
“Until oil companies are allowed to sell FX receipts to IEFX bank participants, CBN would still have an important role to play as a supplier of FX,” it said.
…As Informal Waste Sector Employs 12.9 Million Women
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning that the growing amount of e-waste is endangering the health of millions of children .
This is because 12.9 million women work in the informal garbage sector, where they may be exposed to toxic e-waste, endangering themselves and their unborn children.
To safeguard children from a growing health concern, the first WHO report on e-waste and child health advocates for more effective and binding action.
Meanwhile, more than 18 million children and adolescents, some as young as five years old, work in the informal industrial sector, which includes trash processing. Because children’s hands are more dexterous than adults’, they are frequently involved in e-waste recycling by their parents or caretakers. Other children live, attend to school, and play near e-waste recycling centers, where they are exposed to high quantities of harmful substances, primarily lead and mercury, which can harm their cognitive ability. Because of their smaller size, less developed organs, and quick rate of growth and development, children exposed to e-waste are particularly vulnerable to the hazardous compounds it contains. They take in more pollutants relative to their size and are less able to metabolize or eradicate toxic substances from their bodies.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that effective and binding action is urgently needed to protect the millions of children, adolescents, and expectant mothers whose health is jeopardized by the informal processing of discarded electrical or electronic devices around the world.
Children and Digital Dumpsites, according to a new groundbreaking report from the World Health Organization.
“With rising volumes of manufacturing and disposal, the globe is facing a rising “tsunami of e-waste,” putting lives and health at risk,” according to one recent international meeting.
“In the same way the world has rallied to protect the seas and their ecosystems from plastic and microplastic pollution, we need to rally to protect our most valuable resource –the health of our children – from the growing threat of e-waste.”
Impact of e-waste on human health Workers, aiming to recover valuable materials such as copper and gold, are at risk of exposure to over 1,000 harmful substances, including lead, mercury, nickel, brominated flame retardants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
For an expectant mother, exposure to toxic e-waste can affect the health and development of her unborn child for the rest of its life. Potential adverse health effects include negative birth outcomes, such as stillbirth and premature births, as well as low birth weight and length. Exposure to lead from e-waste recycling activities has been associated with significantly reduced neonatal behavioural neurological assessment scores, increased rates of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioural problems, changes in child temperament, sensory integration difficulties, and reduced cognitive and language scores.
Other adverse child health impacts linked to e-waste include changes in lung function, respiratory and respiratory effects, DNA damage, impaired thyroid function and increased risk of some chronic diseases later in life, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Similarly, Marie-Noel Brune Drisse, the Lead WHO Author on the report said, “A child who eats just one chicken egg from Agbogbloshie, a waste site in Ghana, will absorb 220 times the European Food Safety Authority daily limit for intake of chlorinated dioxins.”
“Improper e-waste management is the cause. This is a rising issue that many countries do not recognize yet as a health problem. If they do not act now, its impacts will have a devastating health effect on children and lay a heavy burden on the health sector in the years to come.”
A rapidly escalating problem E-waste volumes are surging globally. According to the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP), they grew by 21% in the five years up to 2019, when 53.6 million metric tonnes of e-waste were generated. For perspective, last year’s e-waste weighed as much as 350 cruise ships placed end to end to form a line 125km long. This growth is projected to continue as the use of computers, mobile phones and other electronics continues to expand, alongside their rapid obsolescence.
Only 17.4% of e-waste produced in 2019 reached formal management or recycling facilities, according to the most recent GESP estimates, the rest was illegally dumped, overwhelmingly in low- or middle-income countries, where it is recycled by informal workers.
Appropriate collection and recycling of e-waste is key to protect the environment and reduce climate emissions. In 2019, the GESP found that the 17.4% of e-waste that was collected and appropriately recycled prevented as much as 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents from being released into the environment.
Children and Digital Dumpsites calls for effective and binding action by exporters, importers and governments to ensure environmentally sound disposal of e-waste and the health and safety of workers, their families and communities; to monitor e-waste exposure and health outcomes; to facilitate better reuse of materials; and to encourage the manufacture of more durable electronic and electrical equipment.
It also calls on the health community to take action to reduce the adverse health effects from e-waste, by building health sector capacity to diagnose, monitor and prevent toxic exposure among children and women, raising awareness of the potential co-benefits of more responsible recycling, working with affected communities and advocating for better data and health research on the health risks faced by informal e-waste workers.
Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, at the WHO said, “Children and adolescents have the right to grow and learn in a healthy environment, and exposure to electrical and electronic waste and its many toxic components unquestionably impacts that right”
While adding that, “the health sector can play a role by providing leadership and advocacy, conducting research, influencing policy-makers, engaging communities, and reaching out to other sectors to demand that health concerns be made central to e-waste policies.”
Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director/CEO of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has stated that the Federal government will reopen COVID-19 vaccination for the first dose on June 15, 2021.
Anyone over the age of 18 who has not been vaccinated should go to the nearest vaccination center for the first dosage of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Shuaib.
Saying that their second dose will be due in 12 weeks for such people, and by then, we would have received the next shipment of vaccines.
He revealed this at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday to update Nigerians on the COVID-19 Vaccination exercise, stating, “Since then, we’ve been bombarded with requests from Nigerians to be vaccinated.”
He asked all Nigerians who received their first dosage at least six weeks ago to visit their nearest vaccination station to receive their second dose, which would provide full protection against COVID-19, on or before June 25th, when the second dosage will be discontinued.
Remember that the first dosage of immunization was officially closed on May 24, 2021.
According to him ; “Our dedicated teams continue to make strides in the vaccine rollout, working hand in hand with the local communities all across Nigeria. As of today, we have administered 1,978,808 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 680,345 second doses.
” I will once again remind those listening that we are advising that all Nigerians who have received their first dose to check their vaccination cards for the date of their first dose and ensure that they receive the second dose between 6 – 12 weeks after their 1st dose to gain full protection against COVID-19. Please note that in some cases the location of your second dose may be different from your first dose, so please be sure to confirm this.
We now have information that Nigeria will get 3.92m doses of Oxford/Astrazeneca by end of July or early August. As we receive additional information on the exact dates in August, we will provide an update regarding timelines and details of this.
“Recent research from Public Health England (PHE) shows that the Indian (Delta) variant B.1.617.2 is 92% susceptible to Oxford/Astrazeneca. It is therefore comforting to know that the vaccine used in Nigeria can protect against this variant that caused high morbidity and mortality in India. However, it underscores the need for us to ramp up our vaccination to more Nigerians.
“We have held town hall meetings in North Central and NorthEast zones across our country. While efforts to ensure supply of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria are ongoing, the Presidential Steering Committee this week will be having our planned South-South Zonal Town Hall Meeting with stakeholders and the larger communities on COVID-19 vaccination in Benin, Edo State.
“We are fully committed to going to communities to discuss directly our vaccine effort, the importance of staying safe and protected against COVID-19 and answering questions people have. We have been really grateful for the high levels of participation and interest in these events. We are confident that through continued awareness raising, we will be able to keep communities safe and healthy”, he said.
He continued; “As you all are aware, hesitancy towards the second dose is very tied to the continued misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccination program globally and locally. This is especially prevalent on social media. While I commend the patriotism of a multitude of our social media influencers, I must say that I profoundly appreciate the contributions our professional media community has been making towards the progress of COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Nigeria.
“Nevertheless, the challenge is upon us to go beyond straight news and do more in educating Nigerians through interpretative stories, promotional exclusives, features and special broadcast programs on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. It is important to emphasize the need to be fully protected with the second dose, and the socio-economic and health risks of refusing to be vaccinated.
“We will not be tired of calling upon you, the media, as we are confident that you will not relent in bringing to bear on COVID-19, the sheer patriotism and professional prowess you demonstrated in our collective and successful fight against polio in Nigeria. Again, our goal is to do everything possible to educate, combat misinformation, and engender confidence in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and to ensure all Nigerians have clear information on how, where, and when to get the vaccine.
“While we are working with our international partners to confirm the next shipment of vaccines to Nigeria, I wish to speak about the G7 summit that occurred over the weekend. The topic of global inequities in the vaccine supply was a significant focus of the G7 meeting. Rightfully so. Leaders of major, rich countries are becoming increasingly aligned with the thinking that the inequities cannot continue – not only because it is a moral failure but because it is strategically unwise for their own efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic. On the final day of the summit, leaders committed to delivering at least 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to the world over the next year. While this will not close the enormous gap that exists today, it is a positive step and we welcome the new focus.”
Shauib also said that, President Biden announced on the eve of the summit that the US will purchase 500 million doses of the Pfizer-bioNTech vaccine and donate them to low- and middle-income countries through the next year. This pledge is by far the largest yet by one country. These doses will be distributed via Covax. We welcome this announcement and encourage other nations with the means to follow the US’ example so that we, as a global community, can move forward from COVID-19 swiftly.
In other positive news, the Mastercard Foundation has pledged to donate $1.3 billion for vaccines in Africa over the next three years in partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is one of the largest corporate donations of the pandemic, globally. The goals of this cooperation are to strengthen the Africa CDC’s capacity, support local vaccine manufacturing, procure vaccines for at least 50 million people, and help deliver shots to millions more. We applaud Mastercard’s decision, and hope it will serve as an impetus for other corporations to follow with similar efforts.
Finally, I want to ensure that everyone is aware that there has been a rise in COVID-19 cases in several African countries recently. All Nigerians must continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wearing a face covering over your nose and mouth in public spaces can save lives. A curfew remains in place from midnight until 4am every day. Indoor gatherings must be limited to 50 people, and are only permitted if all attendees abide by social distancing and wear face masks. And the government has introduced restrictions on incoming travel from high-risk countries and quarantine requirements to keep Nigerians safe. With a virus like COVID-19, we each must do our part to keep our communities safe.
The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities (COPSUN) has proposed that labor and pay be removed from the Constitution’s exclusive legislative list, allowing state governments to exert proper control over their employees.
The committee, presided over by Mallam Yusuf Ali, SAN, said the structure and operation of the country’s federalism about public institutions established and owned separately by the federal and state governments under different legislations has been a major problem of state universities in a communiqué issued at the end of its 52nd Quarterly Meeting held in Abuja.
State governments should be able to negotiate pay with their employees, according to the report. adding that the rights of trade unions to demand for welfare of its members should be based on employer-employee relationship.
The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) to de-emphasize strikes as the major tool of negotiation with the federal government.
While observing that the disruption of the academic calendars had adversely affected the quality of the nation’s universities, their products and research outputs, the committee said the core values of education have been negatively impacted by the instability in the university system resulting in falling standards.
The committee announced that as its own contribution to the reform of tertiary education in Nigeria, an international conference would be organised before the end of the year to consider the various challenges facing universities and proffer appropriate solutions.
Aisha Buhari, the First Lady, on Monday asked wives of Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police to always support their husbands in carrying out their responsibilities to the country.
She made the remarks while greeting service chiefs’ spouses on a familiarization visit to the State House in Abuja.
She claimed that providing such assistance will enhance their spouses’ morale and strengthen their dedication to fighting crime in Nigeria.
The first lady also urged relevant authorities to ensure a large-scale recruitment of security personnel in order to increase the security forces’ manpower.
While commending the efforts of the Federal Government in the prompt payment of the benefits of slain security personnel, the first lady urged the authorities to sustain the tempo.
Responding, Mrs Vickie Irabor, the President, Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA), pledged their support and commitment to the first lady in her quest to providing services to the less privileged in the society.
Irabor expressed determination to work in synergy with the first lady to ensure peace in the land.
“We know it is not easy; we have come to you to show our support, because you are a pillar of support to us in the security family,” she said.
Our correspondent reports that in attendance were wives of the Chief of Army Staff, Mrs Salamatu Yahaya; the Chief of Air Staff, Mrs Elizabeth Amao and the Chief of Naval Staff, Mrs Nana Gambo.
Others are wives of the Inspector-General of Police, Mrs Hajara Alkali-Baba and the Director-General, Department of State Services, Mrs Aisha Bichi.
According to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, 90 percent of money laundering occurs in the real estate sector.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, the anti-corruption agency leader claimed that although the industry is monitored via the special control unit, more needed to be done.
Bawa, “One of the problems we have now is the real estate. 90 to 100 percent of the resources are being laundered through the real estate.”
He said there are so many issues involved, but that they were working with the National Assembly to stop what he called “the gate keepers” as there would be reduction in looting if there is no one to launder the money.
Bawa, the EFCC boss, gave an example of a minister who expressed interest in a $37.5 million property a bank manager put up for sale.
He added that: “The bank sent a vehicle to her house and in the first instance $20 million was evacuated from her house.
“They paid a developer and a lawyer set up a special purpose vehicle, where the title documents were transferred into.
“And he (the lawyer) is posing as the owner of the property. You see the problem. This is just one of many; it is happening daily.”
The Japanese government stated on Monday that it will offer UNICEF with around US$39 million in emergency funds to help construct vaccine cold chains in Nigeria and 31 other African and Latin American countries affected by COVID-19.
The Government of Japan’s funding complements the work of the COVAX Facility, an international vaccine procurement mechanism dedicated to ensuring that people in all countries have equitable and timely access to vaccines.
UNICEF will use these funding to cooperate with the government to supply cold chain equipment in priority storage sites based on gap analysis, improving vaccine storage capacity and facilitating vaccine potency monitoring.
This has a significant impact on the country’s overall goal of preventing COVID-19 by vaccination, as well as the entire immunization program for child survival.
In each of the six states chosen, a walk-in freezer room will be erected. Solar vaccine refrigerators will be built in 175 wards where vaccine storage capacity is lacking. Temperature monitoring devices will be placed at 18 state cold storage facilities, with technical help provided to set up and maintain the equipment and devices.These supplies will ensure that the vaccines are of high quality.
Rushnan Murtaza, Officer in Charge, Representative, UNICEF Nigeria said, “We welcome the generous support of the Government and the people of Japan to Nigeria, as we continue to grapple with the impact of COVID-19. These funds will allow us to more effectively implement the strategy to ensure as many Nigerians as possible receive COVID-19 vaccinations, ensuring timeliness and efficacy of the vaccines, so that we can work towards a better future for all. UNICEF will continue to work with the Government of Nigeria, Government of Japan and other partners to support the COVID-19 response and to deliver positive outcomes for child survival and promote equitable access to vaccines for all.”
UNICEF has played a central role in supporting the procurement, transportation, and storage of COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria and other countries, taking advantage of its long-standing vaccine procurement, storage, and transportation experience, as well as its existing immunization infrastructure.
A truck driver attempted to kill the Directorate of Route Traffic Services (DRTD’s) ‘Truck Timing Unit Head’ on the Kugbo stretch of the Abuja-Keffi road, according to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial task committee on Traffic Management.
The driver of a Guinness-owned Mitsubishi truck with the Lagos registration number AAA -477 XB came upon Mr Udunobun Otaigbe, also known as ‘Santos,’ while on official duty.
The DRTS Kugbo Area Command’s truck timing unit was established several years ago in response to an FCT ministerial instruction that heavy duty trucks should not be allowed to ply the road at peak hours in the mornings and evenings when workers are either going to work or returning home after close of duty.
While directing his soldiers to prohibit trucks and other heavy duty vehicles from riding the highway during rush hour, the police was knocked down by a truck driver near Karu bridge.
The truck was first stopped and parked on the side of the road, but the driver attempted to run and collided with the senior officer, who was concerned with other problems and not looking in the direction of the halted truck.
While some of his men worked to save him, others chased down the fleeing driver, who was unable to get very far due to the heavy traffic.
Wilson Aniete, the truck driver, was swiftly apprehended with the help of members of the Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC and other security officers the truck driver, Wilson Aniete was quickly apprehended and taken to the Karu Police Division.
The DRTS personnel who is gradually regaining consciousness is currently at the intensive care unit of the Asokoro District Hospital even as his face, hands and legs are badly bruised with various degrees of injuries while his Femur bone on the left leg was badly broken.
Responding to the incident on Monday, Chairman of the Task Team, Comrade Ikharo Attah condemned the action of the truck driver which he described as barbaric and inhuman.
According to Attah , “These are the drivers responsible for the high profile accidents that claim several lives on the road during rush hours. For goodness sake, why will the driver decide to drive off when already parked by the men who were carrying out their official duties?”
While adding that, “the driver will be prosecuted for this gruesome act. When the judicial workers resume after the Democracy day public holiday he will be arraigned possibly on charges of voluntary attempted murder, evading arrest and other traffic violations”.
He pleaded with drivers of heavy duty vehicles to be patient during peak periods to prevent multiple road crashes on Abuja’s busy roads.
Former Militant Commander and head of the Biafra Customary Government (BCG), Mujaheed Asari Dokubo, has called the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a criminal.
Dokubo accused Kanu of utilizing the “Biafran fight” as a business endeavor in a video he posted on social media.
Kanu, he claimed, had been diverting cash intended for the Biafran cause.
According to him; “They are now telling us India, Russia etc. This is how they audit accounts. This is what Biafra will look like under the criminal Nnamdi Kanu.”
“They claim that they brought money to Cotonou to give to me — N20 million. We are waiting for them to bring the evidence. They came to Cotonou to meet with me and I hosted them. They did not bring a dime.
“How is that an audited account? Why do Igbo people allow you, a conman, to be conning them? Igbos, you have to rise. He wants to destroy Onyeama. He wants to destroy Ekweremadu. He wants to destroy everybody and the Igbo people are keeping quiet.
“Biafra is your business now, you have no other avenue for gainful income. It is a pity how Igbo people have fallen for this evil, but your time is up.
He continued; “I am out for you. And I will get you. I just asked that our people be allowed to vote and you sent your dogs. I’ve broken their teeth.
“Nnamdi Kanu, I’m not in your category but for this, I will surely bring you down. I will destroy this evil empire that is working as a hindrance to the restoration of Biafra.”
Kanu is yet to react to the allegations made by Dokubo.
The Niger Delta former militant commander is not the first to level allegations against the IPOB leader.
Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has repeatedly described Kanu as a fraud.
