Prime Minister Imran Khan said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) managed to recover more money in the first two years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as compared to the entire tenures of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
In a tweet, PM Imran said that the reason NAB was able to recover money during his government was the fact that it was functioning “independently” and without any sort of “political interference”.
“Total recoveries by NAB in 2019 & 2020 amount to Rs.389 bn in comparison to previous 10 yrs (2008-2018) recoveries of Rs.104 bn,” the prime minister said.
Imran also appreciated the performance of Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment, saying it recovered Rs206bn in 27 months of Buzdar-led government, whereas it had only managed to recover Rs3bn during the two tenures of PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif.
He said the money recovered by the two accountability watchdogs show that accountability worked best when institutions are independent. Imran went on dub the tenures of the PPP and PML-N as “dark ages under corrupt rulers”.
The opposition leaders, on the other hand, accuse NAB of political victimisation. They claim that NAB is working to target the rivals of PM Imran Khan. Similar remarks were also made by the Islamabad High Court in a graft case against PML-N leader Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique.
