There's never been transparent accountability in Pakistan: Saad Rafique

Rafique says officials hired during Musharraf’s tenure are in NAB which explains a lot

Federal Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Thursday said irrespective of the ruling party, there has never been transparent accountability ever in Pakistan.

Talking to media in Islamabad, Rafique said he was summoned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) today and due to prior official commitments he could not make it thus he has written a letter to NAB requesting for another date.

The railway minister is reportedly the owner of Paragon Housing Society. However, he has denied it in the Supreme Court.

An investigation officer of NAB told The Express Tribune that the investigations into the Ashiyana-e-Iqbal Housing Scam had led them to Paragon Housing Society as well. He said that as part of the investigations, NAB raided offices of Paragon a few weeks back and confiscated documents as part of the investigation into Ashiyana-e-Iqbal Housing project. NAB said that they had asked for the documents but they were not provided.



NAB had found an amount of over Rs30 million, which was transferred into the account of Paragon Housing Society.  The investigation officer said that the amount was used for the purchase of land of 32 kanal by Ahad Khan Cheema and his relatives.

Rafique said, "It has been observed that NAB follows black law, we have always considered it black law and even though we don’t adhere to this law but we are still ready to appear before NAB and submit all details."

He added saying that whether it has been PML-N’s tenure or someone else’s, there has never been transparency and the officials who were hired during Musharraf’s tenure and sitting in NAB, so it is clear to see who is being targeted and questioned.