NAB chairman terms bureau’s anti-corruption strategy successful

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said that the bureau’s anti-corruption strategy of logical conclusion of mega corruption cases remained very successful which resulted into recovery of Rs 535 billion directly and indirectly from the corrupt elements across the board.

“The NAB is committed to eradicating corruption as it is the main plague being confronted to the country and out of 179 mega corruption cases, 95 references have been filed in the accountability courts, whereas 66 cases have been disposed of as per the law,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

The chairman said out of 179 cases, 10 such cases were being investigated and the same number of cases is at the inquiry stage. He said 1,273 NAB’s references of Rs1,305 billion are under trial in different accountability courts throughout the country.

He said NAB is the focal organisation of Pakistan under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as the country was signatory to the UNCAC. Pakistan is the only country in the world with which China has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for eradication of corruption. He said NAB is the chairman of SAARC Anti-Corruption Forum. “This is the recognition of NAB’s excellent work as it is considered a role model among the SAARC countries,” he said.

The chairman said the reputed national and international organisations like Transparency International Pakistan, World Economic Forum, Global Peace Canada, PILDAT and Mishal Pakistan have lauded the NAB’s efforts to eliminate corruption.

He said the NAB devised an effective three-pronged anti-corruption strategy of awareness, prevention and enforcement which has started yielding positive results. He said the NAB has recovered Rs 822 billion directly and indirectly since its inception, while the conviction rate in the NAB cases is 66 percent which is an excellent performance as compared to other anti-corruption organisations.

He said the NAB respects the business community people and special cells have been established at the NAB headquarters as well as all its regional offices to address their grievances. He said the business community thanked him for making efforts for resolution of their problems as the business community is backbone of the country’s economy.

He said the NAB’s officers have been directed to respect the business community as the bureau is a business-friendly institute. “The NAB does not want to cause inconvenience to anybody,” he said. He said the NAB has recovered billions of rupees from the management of private housing societies and the recovered amount is returned to the affectees with dignity.

He said the NAB has introduced a comprehensive and effective national anti-corruption strategy of “Accountability for All” policy which is being implemented strictly. “The number of complaints received by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had doubled in 2021 as compared to corresponding period in 2020 and the record 600 references have been filed in different accountability courts during the tenure of the incumbent leadership”, he said.