ISLAMABAD: Coming down hard on the anti-graft watchdog for slow progress in a number of inquiries pending for as long as a decade, the Public Accounts Commit­tee summoned the Natio­nal Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman to brief the parliamentarians in its next meeting, with the warning that the FIA could be tasked with the recovery of looted amount if the bureau is reluctant to pursue the cases.

PAC chairman Noor Alam Khan expressed these views while presiding over a meeting of the committee on Tuesday. He said many corruption cases were referred to NAB during the last year, but none had reached its logical conclusion so far.

MNA Khan was of the opinion that instead of recovering embezzled money, NAB had “facilitated bureaucrats, ministers and prime ministers”.

“NAB has failed to deliver,” the committee noted.

The PAC chairman then directed the authorities concerned to expedite the process of recovery from corrupt elements. “Senior NAB officials drawing Rs1.5 million plus salaries besides allowances and free fuel, have failed to complete inquiries for last decade. People of Pakistan will like to know who all is NAB facilitating?” MNA Khan said. The committee members called for the provision of complete record and details of NAB’s ongoing probes and inquiries. Members had reasons to believe that NAB’s performance had been poor and that the body was only used to spread fear.

Responding to a request from MNA Sheikh Rohale Asghar, the PAC also sought record of expenses incurred on investigations of corruption cases to draw a comparison with the recoveries made. The chairman directed the authorities to complete the cases within the stipulated time.

According to a list provided by NAB, some of the inquiries pending with the bureau included details of plea bargain with management of Eden Housing Society, list of NAB employees convicted or acquitted till date, list of vehicles in NAB transport pool, embezzlement in utilization of Sustainable Development Goals programme fund in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, embezzlement in Bank of Khyber, and details of corruption in KP health department worth Rs2.5 billion to mention some.

Dual nationality

Taking offence to failure of some departments including Railways, Wapda, and the power division to provide details of employees having dual nationality, MNA Khan observed that such officials holding senior positions would do more harm to the country rather than giving any benefit.

“Such individuals have pledged allegiance to other states. They have taken oaths to protect and serve their adopted countries,” the PAC chairman said, directing the relevant authorities to provide complete details of dual nationals within 15 days.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2023