LAHORE (Online): Chairman NAB Lt Gen (Retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt has said NAB was used for political motives in the past and steps are being taken to restore its credibility.
He said this while addressing a ceremony here Monday.
We will fully depoliticize NAB at every cost, he held.
We have to eliminate the crime not the accused, he affirmed.
Giving punishment or relief is domain of judiciary, he underlined. We have no favorite or enemy in the elimination of corruption.
He directed NAB officers should dispose of cases within least time. Direct or indirect recoveries are being made in corruption cases.
We are evolving new policy for affectees, he declared.
National Accountability Bureau Chairman Lt. Gen. (retd) Nazir Ahmed has said efforts are being made to bring about more reforms and improvements in NAB system so that its mission to eliminate corruption and redress people’s grievances can be carries out more effectively and efficiently.
Addressing a cheque distribution ceremony among affectees of four housing societies, he said that it was NAB’s responsibility to hand over the recovered amount to the affectees in a transparent manner.
The chairman said that NAB’s Lahore region had contributed significantly to the efforts against corruption, as it made possible recoveries of billions of rupees in various housing sector scams and returned the money to the affectees.
Lt. Gen. (retd) Nazir Ahmed said that direct recoveries of about Rs 100 billion were made possible by NAB during the last 15 to 20 years. He said that in the past, attempts were made to politicise NAB by using it as a tool for political engineering, due to which it had to face severe criticism by other institutions including judiciary, but now reforms were being introduced in the Bureau to overcome the anomalies or issues for reviving its reputation and taking elaborative actions against corruption.
He said that had NAB been working efficiently, country’s corruption index should have been improved, but the international corruption indexes had shown a decline in Pakistan’s position in efforts and parameters against corruption.
The chairman said that victim driven policy was being adopted by NAB to resolve issues faced by people pertaining to dealing with NAB officials and corruption scams, adding that in this regard, ‘Kutchehri’ or ‘Bethak’ system would be introduced from Lahore region on monthly basis, where the DG NAB would listen to grievances of people and suggest measures for their resolution.
Lt. Gen. (retd) Nazir Ahmed said that now NAB was genuinely apolitical, as it only aimed to work against corruption and corrupt elements, and its struggle would continue until complete elimination of corruption.
Action against corruption, white-collar crimes and others were among top priorities of NAB, he said and added that corruption scandals erupted frequently despite action being taken against corruption. It was also NAB’s fundamental duty to amend or upgrade the existing laws pertaining to corruption and corrupt practices, he added.
Existing laws regarding corruption were being reviewed, and if needed, amendments would be made within next three months for taking an effective action against corruption, he asserted.
The chairman said, “We believe in less projection, but more results to facilitate people as early as possible.” He said investment of traders, businessmen, investors and people would be protected at any cost.
Lt. Gen. (retd) Nazir Ahmed highlighted that a mechanism was being evolved by NAB after which the matters would not be limited to buyer or developer but a regulator would also emerge to avoid fraud or corruption in housing schemes’ sector.
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