Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s investigation team in connection with the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scam.
Abbasi appeared before the NAB’s combined investigation team (CIT) at its Rawalpindi bureau. The CIT handed over Abbasi a questionnaire, which contains questions regarding evidence collected by the NAB for filing of supplementary reference against him.
The questionnaire includes questions about transactions of billion of rupees in to his account.
The transactions allegedly took place during the LNG contracts. The questionnaire also includes questions, which have not been answered by Abbasi during his remand period.
Abbasi, while talking to media after appearing before the NAB team, said that the NAB had given him a questionnaire and he would file a written reply.
“The questions in the questionnaire are related to my assets as well as taxes, which I wanted the NAB to ask me. I am happy that questions regarding taxes have been asked,” he said.
Abbasi said that he had been answering those questions and appearing before the NAB for the last 20 years. “Chairman NAB will call a meeting and will again arrest him,” he said, adding that he had been a client of the NAB for the last 20 years.
About amendments in the NAB laws, Abbasi said that his party had given its proposed draft to the government regarding amendment in the NAB laws. In the proposed draft, flaws have been addressed in the present NAB laws, he said.
Abbasi said, “We want to eliminate flaws in the existing laws, and not accountability. The NAB has now issued notice to his children and daughter-in-law.”
The NAB had filed interim reference in the LNG scam in December last year. Those who are nominated in the reference for misusing their authority include, Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, former managing director (MD) Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haque, Agha Jan Akhtar, former chairman Port Qasim Authority (PQA), Saeed Ahmed Khan, former chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Aamir Naseem, former member (Oil) OGRA, Uzma Adil Khan, chairperson OGRA, Shahid M Islam, former MD PSO, and Abdul Samad Dawood.
