Must keep national interest ahead of personal one to build State of Medina: Chairman NAB

RAWALPINDI: Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said on Friday that in order for the state of Medina to be built, personal interests would have to take a backseat to national ones.

The chairman of the anti-graft body was speaking to participants at an event where he said that if holding people accountable was a crime then NAB would keep on committing it continuously.

"NAB has decided that it will not see the face. It will see the case on its merits," he said. "The country owes more than $100 million hence those who looted it will be held accountable."

He said that there were numerous laws present in Pakistan to keep corruption and money laundering in check. However, implementation on these laws was needed.

"If we are to build the state of Medina, we must keep the national interest above personal interests," he said.

The statement from Iqbal comes at a time when the government and opposition are hitting out at each other. Both parties accuse each other of corruption and financial mismanagement.

On Wednesday, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif lashed out at the federal government and claimed that a 'Niazi-NAB nexus' was behind the move to freeze his assets. Shehbaz had said that the courts had granted him bail on merit in the Ashiana Housing Scheme and the clean drinking water cases.

On Thursday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar, responded to Shehbaz's presser by alleging that the PML-N president had looted the country and laundered billions.

Akbar had alleged that Shehbaz's assets grew by 70 percent in the last 10 years through illegal means. He challenged the former Punjab chief minister to answer 18 questions pertaining to his assets.