ANYIM UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER 297-BED HOTEL

President Goodluck Jonathan has become “very uncomfortable” with Anyim over reports that he built a 297-bed hotel within two years of becoming SGF, TheCable was told. Anyim was appointed in 2011. “Anyim’s relationship with the president is no longer what it used to be,” a top member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said. An associate of Anyim has, however, said the allegation is baseless because “nothing has been traced” to the former senate president. He said the hotel allegation has been flying around for a while. “When I asked him, he laughed, saying he would be very happy if the hotel can be gifted to him,” he said.
“Nobody can say money is missing or that Anyim has stolen anything. The allegation of corruption was invented,” the associate said, alleging that some politicians eyeing the SGF position were behind the allegation. “Anyim will be here till May 2015. Tell them to wait for their time.” But party sources said the allegations against Anyim were “weighty” and the crack in his relationship with the president was evident at the PDP rally in Enugu in April. “Anyim was not allowed to speak. He looked weather-beaten and isolated. He was relegated to the background. It was obvious to everybody that he has fallen out of reckoning,” a party official said. Anyim is the most senior south-easterner in Jonathan’s government. His office supervises “A List” agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Authority (NIMASA). Some members of his family are allegedly getting lucrative contracts from NDDC – one of the allegations levelled against Anyim. TheCable has been informed that “there is a large body of evidence against him”. Anyim’s relationship with Jonathan is also failing because “he has not served as a rallying point for the south-east behind the president”, the party official said. “The president has had to rely on other politicians in the region to shore up his political base. Anyim has been divisive. There are complaints from prominent Igbo people that they do not have access to him. They also complain that the most important federal appointments co-ordinated by Anyim favour his home state, Ebonyi,” the official said. TheCable sent a list of these allegations to Anyim’s spokesman, Mr Sam Nwaobasi, as requested by him but he did not respond to text messages and emails.
Source: The Cable