ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Sunday the government has no plan to clip the powers...
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Sunday the government has no plan to clip the powers of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Addressing a news conference here, he said ‘the government is neither annoyed with nor afraid of it’.
He recalled that the NAB institution was, in fact, constituted by military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership.
Chaudhry Nisar said both Musharraf and former President Asif Ali Zardari used NAB for thirteen years against PML-N leaders, but could not find anything wrong. “So when the hostile governments could not prove any irregularity against PML-N leadership, how can they be scared now,” he added.
In fact, Chaudhry Nisar said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had advised NAB not to harass investors and businessmen, who had complained to him about the intimidation by the Bureau.
Therefore, he stressed, the Prime Minister's statement should be taken in this very perspective.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan reiterated his offer to Pakistan People's Party (PPP) for judicial scrutiny of FIA investigations into seven or eight mega corruption scandals of PPP era. He said the previous government was the only regime in the world, which made huge corruption even in Hajj money.
He said EOBI, PSO, Abandoned Properties Evacuee Trust, New Islamabad Airport, PIA, and other major scams emerged during the previous government of PPP.
The minister said the FIA conducted independent investigations into these scams without any government or political influence.
“The PML-N government is ready for giving a briefing to all opposition parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on these scams.”
The interior minister went on to say that the PPP was trying to save only Dr Asim Hussain by accusing FIA of trespassing, adding that the FIA had recovered over Rs14.5 billion looted money.
He recommended increasing salaries and other benefits of FIA officials on the occasion-Radio Pakistan