Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail among seven others placed on ECL

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail among seven others placed on ECL

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Names of seven people including two Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have been placed on Exit Control List (ECL) today (Friday). According to details, former Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Chairman Uzma Adil have been barred from travelling abroad. Earlier, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had 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. 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. 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. 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.