Former Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, was interrogated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi chapter on Tuesday with reference to the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scam.
According to available information, a four-member team of the accountability watchdog, led by Additional Director Mohammed Zubair, questioned him for over two hours. They then handed over a sheet of 70 queries and asked him to submit his responses by February 28. The Combined Investigation Team (CIT) would further its inquiry on the basis of the replies given by former premier in person and the replies received on the questionnaire.
The investigation is being directly supervised by NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal.
Earlier, Abbasi had excused himself from appearing before the watchdog body on February 8. He is being questioned after the Supreme Court ordered the NAB to complete its investigation against Abbasi and other accused persons. NAB is acting on a case registered in 2015 against an illegal award of an LNG import contract to the minister’s allegedly favourite company for 15 years, which had caused a potential $2 billion loss to the national exchequer. Shahid Sattar – an energy expert and a former member of the Planning Commission and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) board of directors–had lodged a complaint on July 29, 2015, against the then minister for petroleum, Abbasi, for misusing his authority.
The contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws, NAB maintained.
The watchdog had then recommended that the names of all accused in the case, including Mr Abbasi, be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL). However, no such decision has yet been taken. In January, former finance minister Dr Miftah Ismail was interrogated in the same case.
Published in Daily Times, February 20th 2019.
