ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal Saturday said the watchdog has no political affiliation with any group or political party.
“The NAB is only associated with Pakistan,” he said and added that taking mega corruption cases to their logical end was one of his foremost priorities.
The NAB chief said that corruption was the mother of all evils as it mars economic development and deprives deserving persons of their due right. “Corruption has penetrated in the country to become a cancerous wound and removing it from its roots is the key requirement of the time.”
He said Pakistan was committed to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in eradicating corruption through its three-pronged anti-corruption strategy of awareness, prevention and enforcement.
NAB, since its inception, has received about 399,861 complaints from individuals and private/public organisations. During this period, NAB authorised 13,180 complaint verifications, 8,587 inquiries, 4,124 investigations and filed 3,401 corruption references.
“Currently, 1,211 corruption references with a value of Rs900 billion are under trial in respective accountability courts across the country. The figures for complaints, inquiries and investigations have almost doubled as compared to the same period of 2017 to 2018.”
The comparative figures for the past one year are indicative of the hard work being put in by all ranks of NAB staff in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism, he said and added that the increase in the number of complaints also reflected enhanced public trusted in the bureau.
“Starting from the year 2017, which can be called the year of NAB’s reinvigoration, we have moved with a new zeal and effort after detailed introspection and analysis of organisational weaknesses, overhaul of procedures and all pillars of the organisation, including operations, prosecution, human resource development, awareness and prevention have been reactivated,” he concluded.
