Sheikh Rasheed submits details of Rs200 billion LNG scandal to NAB

ISLAMABAD: Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed met the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday and submitted details of alleged corruption in the award of a contract for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) when Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was the federal petroleum minister. 

Talking to the media later, Rasheed claimed he has done half of the work for the bureau as he has also submitted evidence of the Rs200 billion scandal. 

He claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has decided to launch an assault against the Supreme Court chief justice and NAB chairman, adding that they [Nawaz Sharif] is searching for evidence to launch a movement against the NAB chairman. 

"They can do whatever they want but will fail in their plans," the AML chief said, adding that he will strike the last nail in the coffin of their [PML-N's] politics. 

On February 12, the Supreme Court had dismissed Rasheed's petition seeking a NAB inquiry against Abbasi as well as his disqualification from Parliament over the LNG scandal. 

The three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, had ruled that the case can be taken to the NAB.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan had added that NAB can summon the respondents if it deems fit.

The AML chief has been claiming since Abbasi's election as prime minister in August this year that the former petroleum minister is guilty of multi-billion rupee corruption.

Ahmed states that Abbasi awarded the LNG import contract in 2015 without observing transparency in the bidding process and seeks a probe into the LNG import contracts claiming that they were commissioned in violation of rules.