- PTI chief asks agencies to come to Punjab and even KP to ‘clean what we have been unable to’
- Blames Punjab CM for failure of Rs 22b Nandipur project, wants third party audit
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday demanded “third-party, independent enquiries of mega corruption scams in Punjab” and invited all federal agencies, especially Rangers and National Accountability Bureau (NAB), to begin crackdowns against corruption in Punjab and “even in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” where his own party rules.
“Agencies should come to Punjab and even KP to clean what we have been unable to. But it is more important than ever to cleanse Punjab because the biggest scams will be found there,” said Khan, while speaking at a press conference from his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad.
Khan said the Nandipur Power Plant “failure” would have gone “unnoticed” had the “muk-muka” [underhand deal] between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) not broken down.
“It is at least Rs 22 billion project. We demand a third-party audit; not one on the lines of the Model Town investigation,” stated the PTI chief.
Imran Khan went on to say that these mega corruption scandals had not come to the forefront before because the “Public Accounts Committee and NAB was controlled by PPP and PML-N.”
“But today their cooperation has ended and they are at loggerheads over Rangers’ and federal agencies’ action in Sindh,” said Khan, referring to the tiff between the PPP and the PML-N which has resulted in the PPP leadership giving strong statements against the PML-N run government.
Khan said it was intriguing why the Nandipur project was a failure after so much work had been done, and held Punjab Chef Minister Shahbaz Sharif responsible for it.
The PTI chief went on to say that the metro bus projects by the PML-N government were also “extravagant”. “We also demand an independent audit of the metro projects,” which he said was made at an unusually high cost. “The biggest of all corruption cases is the LNG scandal. We know your friends in Qatar and how you are doing it.”
The PTI chairman said “not even revealing the cost of the project was questionable,” adding that the “Sindh government was right in pointing out it produced a major chunk of gas in the country.
Imran Khan said action against 5,000 policemen had been initiated in KP, which he said was unprecedented in Pakistan.
Lauding provincial police chief Nasir Durrani, Imran Khan criticised under-investigation former KP minister Ziaullah Afridi for his remarks on the KP Assembly floor a couple of days ago.
“He (Afridi) has been a solid worker for our party but what he did in the KP Assembly was very disappointing. Even the CJP had appreciated the IG. I am sacking Ziaullah Afridi from PTI. This is a message for my party; if you are under investigation you have to clear yourself first… not throw dirt and blackmail others.”