Saeed Ghani lashes out at NAB chief, claims govt blackmailing him with a video

Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani Friday lashed out at Chairman NAB Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, claiming that the government was using a video of the anti-graft Bureau's chief to blackmail him. 

The minister was addressing a press conference in Karachi where he severely criticised the NAB chief. 

Ghani said chairman NAB was misusing the law and targeting political opponents of the government. 

"People have committed suicides due to the NAB chairman's actions," said Ghani. "If he is being blackmailed by the government then perhaps he should resign from the post," added the Sindh minister.

He accused the anti-graft body of protecting PTI MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh, saying that NAB was afraid Sheikh would be arrested by the Anti-Corruption Establishment hence it opened an inquiry against the PTI leader to stall his arrest.

Ghani accused NAB of threatening him with dire consequences. The PPP leader said he was not afraid of the anti-graft bureau's tactics, adding that he would "fight against the liers and deceivers".

He accused NAB of "illegally interfering" with the day-to-day affairs of the government, adding that the PPP had always said that NAB and the country's economy, both cannot function together.

In response to a question, Ghani lamented the scuffle between NAB personnel and the PPP workers when the former arrived at the house of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah's aide Ijaz Jakhrani to arrest him.

"Jakhrani, I am sure, did not ask [his supporters] to attack NAB personnel," he added.

The minister said former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP's veteran MNA Khursheed Shah were being targeted for political reasons. 

NAB refutes Ghani's allegations

A day earlier, NAB refuted Ghani's statements against the Bureau, saying that they were not only untrue, baseless and misleading, rather, the statements are an attempt to influence the cases of PPP leaders Syed Khursheed Shah and Jakhrani.

Ghani, on Thursday had criticised the NAB for attempting to arrest party leader Jakhrani. NAB's press release said Ghani’s statement was “misleading the public about the NAB cases, proceedings at courts would be reviewed under Section 31 of the NAB Ordinance and the law will make its own way.”

The NAB said it had filed two references against Jakhrani, Adviser to Chief Minister Sindh for Prisons, which are pending in the Accountability Court, Sukkur, while the Sindh High Court canceled his pre-arrest bail in the third case on June 25, 2021.

It said “when the NAB Sukkur team reached the house of Aijaz Jakhrani in Jacobabad to arrest him, a large number of angry people attacked the NAB team, injuring the NAB officers besides damaging their vehicles.”