Rs539b recovered in four years: NAB chairman
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered around Rs539 billion from corrupt elements in four years – a record achievement as compared to previous years.
This was revealed during a meeting, chaired by anti-graft watchdog Chairman (retd) Justice Javed Iqbal, held to review the performance of NAB at its headquarters.
Citing a four-year report on the performance of the bureau, the chairman said NAB was pursuing the policy of “accountability for all” and “self-accountability” which was announced as soon as he took charge in 2017. “One hundred and eighty-five officers have been probed under the 'self-accountability' policy.
“The anti-corruption strategy has proved to be very successful and has been lauded by reputed national and international organisations,” he claimed.
During the meeting, it was informed that NAB received 501,723 complaints since its inception, out of which 491,358 complaints were disposed of. As per details, NAB has authorised 16,188 complaint verifications, while 15,391 of them were completed.
Further, 9,260 out of 10,297 authorised inquiries have been completed.
It was informed that the watchdog has managed to recover Rs819.945 billion directly and indirectly since its inception, which is a record achievement.
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Similarly, NAB had filed 3,760 references in various learned accountability courts, of which 2,482 have been already decided by the said courts. Likewise, there were 1,278 references worth Rs1,335.019 billion under trial at various learned accountability courts.
Dilating further upon the details, the chairman went on to say that NAB was considered a role model among SAARC countries, adding that NAB was selected as the first chairman of SAARC anti-corruption forum. “NAB is the focal department of Pakistan under United Nations Convention against Corruption.”
He informed the meeting that the bureau has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China to oversee CPEC projects being conducted in Pakistan.
He said NAB has introduced a new concept of Combined Investigation Team in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers to further improve the standard and quality of inquiries and investigations on the basis of solid evidence as well as statements of witnesses and documentary evidence.
State-of-the-art forensic laboratories with facilities of digital forensics, questioned documents and fingerprint analysis have also been established, he added.
He said, “The youth is our future. NAB has signed an MoU with the Higher Education Commission in order to create aware among the youth of the ill effects of corruption in universities and colleges at an early age.”
He said that as per Gallup Pakistan survey, 59 per cent of people have shown trust in NAB. “Moreover, reputed national and international organisations like the Transparency International (TI) Pakistan, World Economic Forum, Global Peace Canada, PILDAT and Mishal Pakistan have appreciated NAB’s efforts in eradication of corruption,” he added.