LNG scam: NAB investigates Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
The NAB in January interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Former premier and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) probe team at the bureau’s office in Rawalpindi after being summoned in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scam case.
The NAB summoned Abbasi as former minister for petroleum and natural resources for recording his statement in ‘illegal’ award of the LNG contract with Qatar.
According to sources, Abbasi submitted his response on a questionnaire including, the reason of necessity of the contract, the person who had approved the conditions of the contract, holding the ministry of petroleum while being the prime minister of the state, the number of visits to Qatar for formulating the contract, and how could the contract be signed against rules and regulations and misuse of authority for approval of the contract.
The PML-N leader refuted all accusations against him, and maintained that all contracts were signed in accordance with Pakistan’s constitution and the international law.
He stated that the LNG was bought from Qatar due to energy crisis in Pakistan, and the rate at which it was purchased was at lower price as compared to other countries.
Earlier, he had expressed fear that he might be arrested by the investigation team.
He rejected his connection with the Airblue Limited, a private Pakistani low-cost airline. The accountability watchdog has tightened the noose against Abbasi in the Airblue case.
"I will appear before the NAB whenever I will be summoned," he said.
Earlier, the bureau had asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to submit the financial record of the airline. In this regard, the NAB Rawalpindi had written a letter to the CAA.
On Sep 10, 2018, the apex court directed the NAB to complete the inquiry against Abbasi and others for the alleged corruption in the LNG contract.
As the minister for petroleum and natural resources, he has been accused of granting contract on LNG Terminal to ETPL, Tri-partial agreement, LSA with EETPL and LNG import from Qatar etc.
In June 2018, the NAB approved inquiry against former premier Nawaz Sharif and Abbasi, who was the former minister for petroleum and natural resources at that time, in granting contract of LNG terminal for 15 years to their ‘favourite’ company.
It was also observed that this contract had allegedly caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
The NAB in January interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.
According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
