Will expose NAB, says Shahbaz

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned him for Monday (today) and he will bring the real face of Bureau before the media with evidence.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Bab-e-Pakistan project on Walton Road here Sunday, he said NAB chairman justice (retd) Javed Iqbal was expressing his love for him by sending him notices, but he would bring the facts before the public. He said: “I will apologise to the nation and leave politics if corruption of even a single penny is proved against me. But if it is not proved, you have to decide about the accusers.”

He said billions of rupees had been plundered in National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), rental power plants, Nandipur and Chichuki Malian, but there is no one to hold them accountable. The CM said NAB failed to recover looted money from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari.

“But we won’t spare him and bring back the looted money from (Zardari’s) Swiss bank (accounts), or from any other part of the world.” He said every single person of the country was well aware of the corruption, committed by Zardari in the country.

The chief minister said that few days ago, a great drama was staged at The Mall Lahore, which was participated by all political clowns. Those were part of the drama, who plundered Pakistan with both hands, as stories of corruption of Zardari Sahib are known to all and sundry, he said adding that it was ironic that he was demanding his resignation.

Shahbaz said there was also an actor in the drama, who used to deceive everyone every time. He is known for his politics of impeachment, he added.

The CM said that Imran Niazi had charged him with Rs27 billion corruption, for which “I sent him a notice which is still unanswered.

“Again on the Panama issue, he accused me of offering him Rs10 billion. I approach the court again. Despite eight hearings in that case, he had not shown up. He had failed to provide any evidence against me,” the CM added.

The chief minister said Niazi Sahib had claimed in 2013 after winning polls in KP that he would end darkness not only in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but also in entire Pakistan. However, despite passage of over four years, he had failed to produce even a single megawatt of electricity.

Later on, he (Imran) announced planting one billion saplings in KP, but the promise was never fulfilled.

Moreover, the CM recalled that in 2010-11 when Lahore was attacked by dengue virus, the Punjab government, under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, and with the help of political allies, members of the assembly, bureaucrats and doctors, went all out to cope with the situation. “Then Niazi Sahib had taunted us and named us as Dengue Brothers,” Shahbaz recalled. But when Peshawar faced the same problem, the PML-N government didn't choose to protest or stage a sit-in, rather we sent mobile hospitals, medicines, experts and teams of doctors for the people of Peshawar.

Shahbaz said the way Niazi Sahib failed to serve his people in KP, Asif Zardari also disappointed the people of his province, Sindh. Under the leadership of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the federal government provided funds for Metro Bus in Karachi, but they could not make the bus run.

The CM promised with the people of Karachi and Peshawar to make these cities “Lahore” of their provinces if elected to power in 2018 elections. Also, Balochistan, Sindh and KP would be brought on a par with Punjab as far as development is concerned, the Punjab CM added.

He said if his party and leader give him a responsibility, he would supervise development projects of other province of Pakistan from 6am to 12pm at nigh just like he had done in Punjab.

The CM said Niazi Sahib’s mind is always preoccupied with lies, propaganda and blame-game; that is why no positive thing comes to his mind. He said Niazi Sahib would be able to serve people once his mind is free of abuses. He said the abusive language used by these so-called leaders in the drama of The Mall was disgusting. He vowed that the PML-N will answer their abuses and harsh words by providing better services to the people and will make all units of Pakistan strong just like Punjab.

The CM said that investment of billions of rupees had been made in energy sector and there was no precedent of transparent and quick completion of projects in the history of Pakistan.

He said that the PTI impeded Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project and caused a delay of 22 months. He thanked people of Lahore who rejected the opposition drama on The Mall. In the same manner, the people would bury their politics in 2018 elections, Shahbaz said.

The CM also announced making Walton Road like the LOS and said that if again given an opportunity, they would make the road splendid like other roads of Lahore.

About Bab-e-Pakistan project, the CM said it would be constructed on 117 acres of land, and cost more than Rs4 billion. It will have an auditorium, food court, sports complex, art gallery, a lake and playgrounds.

While addressing the big public gathering, Shahbaz said that the Bab-e-Pakistan reminded the countrymen the unending struggle of the Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his companions as millions of people had reached here after migration at the time of Partition. He regretted delay in construction of Bab-e-Pakistan, saying it should have been done 20 years ago.

The CM said that on Oct 12, 1999, when General Pervez Musharraf had toppled a democratic government, the project was handed over to the Punjab government, which turned it into a hub of corruption.

Furthermore, he added, we are trying to fix the transgressions of previous government for the last nine years, and today we have started reconstruction of the project. It would cost more than 4 million rupees and it would be the greatest project of Lahore, he added. It would have a playground for young people and relate the tales of workers of Pakistan Movement, he added. Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafiq also spoke on the occasion.