Pius Anyim
People's
Democratic Party chieftain, Pius Anyim has been directed to return the
millions of naira linked to him or be charged to court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has given a former
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, the option of
returning the N520m he allegedly collected from a former National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), or be prosecuted for money
laundering.
It was learnt that Anyim, who is also a former Senate President,
was still in the EFCC custody on Saturday and might remain there until
investigations reach a logical conclusion.
A source at the EFCC said, “Anyim collected N520m from Dasuki
on the eve of the presidential election in March, 2015. We have asked
him to return the money. That is our primary goal. Let him tell us how
he intends to pay back.”
The source explained that the commission was not in a hurry to
release Anyim on self-recognizance as he was known to shun invitations.
He added, “Anyim had, in the past, shunned invitations by the
National Assembly and even the EFCC. He is not the type to be granted
unconditional bail.”
Meanwhile, it was learnt that the EFCC had invited companies that
received contracts during Anyim’s tenure. Anyim was also accused of
awarding contracts to some companies linked to him through which
ecological funds were allegedly diverted.
The companies include Foundation Years Limited, Precious
Integrated, Precious Petroleum, Mak & Mak, Chap Construction, Eldyke
Engineering, Pryke Limited, Chipa Nigeria Limited, Prima A11 Limited,
Pima International, Chanto Engineering, Ishiagu Microfinance Bank, Mulak
Ventures, Vitro Engineering and Tip Top Nigeria.
The source added, “Anyim was SGF from May 2011 to May 29, 2015.
During this period, specifically May 2012 to May 2015, the SGF
Ecological Fund Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria received an
inflow of N58,146,983,677.85.
“From this fund, three of the companies linked to Anyim –
Foundation Years, Obis Associate and Eldyke Engineering – received
contracts worth over N13bn. Foundation Years alone received a net
payment of N10,308,017,838.85 between 2014 and 2015.
“Curiously, on receiving the fund, Foundation Years and another
Anyim company, Br-Kthru made several transfers to 37 entities. Some of
the organisations and individuals have no nexus at all with ecological
issues. Investigators are probing the reasons behind the wild
disbursement.”
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