Ebun Francis || Anyim Pius Anyim, the detained former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has been told by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC to return the N520m he allegedly collected from a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and account for over N58bn Ecological fund he disbursed or face the wrath of the law.
Anyim who was taken into custody by the anti-graft agency on Friday after failed efforts in the past is expected to remain in detention for the time being.
“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,” a source at the EFCC told reporters over the weekend.
The Ebonyi state born politician and former Senate President is being grilled by officials of the EFCC over the N520m he received from the former NSA and disbursement of Ecological funds to companies linked to him.
One of the officers involved in the interrogation of the former SGF who did not want his name mentioned told newsmen, “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.”
He is also under pressure to explain how he disbursed over N58 billion ecological funds especially to companies linked to him.
Some of the companies who received money from the Ecological fund from Anyim’s office according to documents made available by EFCC are, 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.”
All the companies are expected to visit the EFCC with relevant documents next week.