NAB chairman vows to eliminate corruption

Islamabad : National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal while addressing officers at NAB Headquarters said that eradication of corruption is not only our national duty but is top priority of NAB, says a press release.

NAB has devised proactive national anti-corruption strategy to root out corruption from the country with iron hands. He said that NAB has geared up and rejuvenated to nab corrupt, proclaimed offenders and absconders. NAB officers to double their efforts to eradicate corruption by adopting ‘Accountability for All’ policy across the board.

He said that NAB’s prime focus is on cases of cheating public at large by fraudulent financial companies, bank frauds, wilful bank loan defaults, misuse of authority, money laundering and embezzlement of state funds by government servants etc. Since NAB’s inception, one of NAB’s major achievements has been the recovery of around Rs296 billion of ill-gotten money which was deposited in the national exchequer which is a remarkable achievement of NAB. NAB’s operational methodology comprises of complaint verification, inquiry and investigation.

He said that NAB has established its first state of the Art Forensic Science LAB (FSL) in NAB Rawalpindi which has facilities of digital forensics, questioned documents and fingerprint analysis. NAB has rationalised its workload and timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases putting a maximum limit of 10 months - from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to-investigation and finally to a reference in the Accountability Court. He said that NAB has also introduced Combine Investigation Team (CIT) system in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. This is not only lending quality to the work but also ensuring that no single individual can influence the official proceedings of NAB.

He said that as per the report of Transparency International (TI) of 2017, Pakistan’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is 116, adding that Pakistan is considered role model in South Asian countries in its efforts against corruption. This is a great achievement for Pakistan due to NAB efforts. Besides Transparency International, independent National and International watch dogs like PLIDAT and World Economic Forum have also appreciated Pakistan in curbing corruption due to NAB efforts. He said that NAB is first chairman of SAARC anti Corruption Forum which is great achievement for Pakistan due to NAB efforts. NAB on bilateral cooperation, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to streamline and structure and cooperation in the fields of anti-corruption. In the context of CPEC this cooperation will further boost confidence in projects undertaken in Pakistan. Another memorandum of understanding is proposed to be signed with Malaysia in the fields of anti-corruption and details in this regards are being worked out.