Not afraid of arrest, says former premier Abbasi outside NAB

PML-N leader appears in LNG contract case hearing at the Rawalpindi office

ISLAMABAD: Former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday said he was not afraid of being arrested by the national anti-graft watchdog as he arrived before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the LNG contract case.





When asked if he had prepared responses to the accountability court's questionnaire, the former premier remarked that government records were necessary to provide those answers. "The questionnaire is too long and government records are required to answer it," said Abbasi.

He added that he had written to the secretary of the Petroleum Division for the relevant information.

Case History

The NAB, in 2018, initiated an inquiry against former premiers Abbasi and Nawaz Sharif over alleged misuse of authority.

Abbasi and few others had been accused of illegally awarding LNG terminal contract for a period of 15 years to a company of their liking in violation of defined rules, ‘thus inflicting billions of rupees losses to the national exchequer’.



The inquiry into the LNG contract case had been initiated almost one-and-a-half year after the NAB Karachi office closed a similar inquiry against Abbasi for his alleged role in the award of a multi-billion rupee contract for the import and distribution of LNG.

The PML-N government in its tenure from 2013-2018 completed two LNG terminals, while just days before completion of its term, on May 31, it stopped the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) from going ahead with bidding for the allocation of a site for constructing a third terminal.