Dawn.com, Islamabad :
Following the removal of its chief Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, another problem has arisen for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the interim premier-in-waiting, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, is also facing a Rs220 billion corruption inquiry being carried out by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Mr Abbasi, the former minister for petroleum and natural resources, is a principal accused in a NAB case registered in 2015 regarding award of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract.
Other suspects include former petroleum secretary Abid Saeed, Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) managing director Mobin Saulut, private firm Engro’s chief executive officer Emranul Haq and the Sui Southern Gas Company’s (SSGC) ex-MD Zuhair Ahmed Siddiqui.
After the removal of Mr Sharif by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, the PML-N has nominated Mr Abbasi as its candidate for the prime minister’s post for an interim period before Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif replaces him for the remaining 10 months of the government’s term. The election of the new prime minister will be held on Tuesday and
Mr Abbasi is set to be elected in view of his party’s comprehensive majority in the National Assembly.
According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
The bureau registered the case on July 29, 2015 but it is still in the inquiry stage, contrary to NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry’s claim that he has introduced a new strategy under which the process of complaint verification, inquiry, investigation and filing of reference took 10 months.
It appears that like several cases of the Sharif family, this one has also been dumped by NAB.
Following the removal of its chief Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, another problem has arisen for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the interim premier-in-waiting, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, is also facing a Rs220 billion corruption inquiry being carried out by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Mr Abbasi, the former minister for petroleum and natural resources, is a principal accused in a NAB case registered in 2015 regarding award of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract.
Other suspects include former petroleum secretary Abid Saeed, Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) managing director Mobin Saulut, private firm Engro’s chief executive officer Emranul Haq and the Sui Southern Gas Company’s (SSGC) ex-MD Zuhair Ahmed Siddiqui.
After the removal of Mr Sharif by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, the PML-N has nominated Mr Abbasi as its candidate for the prime minister’s post for an interim period before Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif replaces him for the remaining 10 months of the government’s term. The election of the new prime minister will be held on Tuesday and
Mr Abbasi is set to be elected in view of his party’s comprehensive majority in the National Assembly.
According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
The bureau registered the case on July 29, 2015 but it is still in the inquiry stage, contrary to NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry’s claim that he has introduced a new strategy under which the process of complaint verification, inquiry, investigation and filing of reference took 10 months.
It appears that like several cases of the Sharif family, this one has also been dumped by NAB.
