Newly-appointed NAB chief has no social media accounts: spokesperson

Bureau warns certain individuals are claiming to be acquaintances of Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt on social media

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has issued a statement advising the public and media personnel to beware of fake social media accounts of NAB Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt.

The bureau's spokesperson, in a statement issued on Friday, revealed that the NAB chairman does not have any social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook, and urged everyone not to follow or attribute any fake accounts associated with the chairman.

The spokesperson went on to warn that there are individuals claiming to be acquaintances of the NAB chairman and requested the public to immediately report such individuals to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), NAB Headquarters, as well as its regional offices.

The federal government last week appointed Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt as the new chairman of National Accountability Bureau for three years after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz, reached a consensus on the name of the retired general.

Read more: Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt appointed new NAB chief

The government has chosen the new accountability czar on the heels of the prime minister’s meetings with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Syed Asim Munir, President of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman, among others.

The post fell vacant after ex-NAB chief Aftab Sultan walked out of the powerful office last month.

Sultan’s resignation as NAB chief was accepted days after speculation began that he wanted to quit due to the pressure on him to take actions that he found “unacceptable”. Sultan cited “interference” and “pressure” as the reasons for his departure, but did not elaborate who was pressuring him.

One sign that he was being pressurised but didn’t succumbed to it emerged hours after his resignation as former premier Imran Khan and his wife were told to appear before NAB in the Toshakhana case.