Former PTI lawmaker Ubaid Ullah Mayar confesses to taking Rs10 million in bribe

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  • Former PTI lawmaker Ubaid Ullah Mayar has confessed to taking bribe worth Rs10 million after a scandalous video of PTI MPAs allegedly accepting bribe surfaced
  • Says he took the money on the "directives of the then chief minister of KP, Pervez Khattak
  • Says provincial government had "paid Rs10 million to all MPAs"


After a scandalous video of PTI lawmakers allegedly receiving bribe before the Senate elections of 2018 went viral on social media on Tuesday, former PTI lawmaker Ubaid Ullah Mayar has confessed to taking bribe worth Rs10 million.

Speaking to Geo News, Mayar said that he  took the money on the "directives of the then chief minister of KP, Pervez Khattak."

Mayar said that the PTI-led provincial government had "paid Rs10 million to all MPAs."

He said that incident took place at the National Assembly speaker's house and it was the "provincial government which paid money to the MPAs and then made a video." He went on to say that he was "not aware of being filmed at the time of receiving the money."

"At that time, Pervez Khattak had formed a committee of 17 MPAs and asked us to vote for them, paid us the money, and promised to give us party's tickets," he alleged.

He said that he even went to the High Court in relation to the matter, adding that he "stands by [his] statement and is "not afraid of anyone."

"I know the reality of Pervez Khattak as well as National Assembly's Speaker Asad Qaiser," he said. "These two made the video, paid us, and the place shown in the video is the speaker's house."

Responding to a question regarding two people from another party who could be seen taking money in the video, Mayar said that "Pervez Khattak had promised to make them ministers if they joined the PTI," adding that the "promise was later fulfilled".

He said that he was asked to return the money on the suspicion that he did not vote for PTI's candidate.

Govt to launch probe into the matter

KP's Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Science and Technology and Information Technology Kamran Khan Bangash said that the KP government will form an independent inquiry commission to probe the scandalous video, adding that the government will not only investigate the matter but strict action will be taken against all those involved.

The video

A video of PTI lawmakers allegedly receiving bribes before the Senate elections in 2018 surfaced on social media on Tuesday amid the heated debate between the government and Opposition on the issue of balloting for this year's Senate elections.

In the video, stacks of currency could be seen sitting atop a table in front of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PTI MPAs. Current KP Law Minister Sultan Mohammad Khan and MPA Ubaid Mayar can be seen in the video as well.

Former PPP MPA Mohammad Ali Bacha can be seen handing over the stacks to the PTI parliamentarians. PTI's Sultan Mohammad Khan can be seen receiving money in the video and keeping it in a bag.

Sardar Idrees, another former MPA of the PTI, can also be seen taking money. Another former PTI MPA Meraj Humayun can be seen in the video, receiving the money and putting it in a bag as can another former MPA of the party, Dina Khan.

The government and the Opposition parties are at loggerheads over the issue of open balloting in the upcoming Senate elections. The Opposition has rejected the government's demands to hold an open ballot during the polls.

Read more: KP Law Minister Sultan Muhammad resigns after being accused of selling Senate votes

The government, on the other hand, has blamed the Opposition of bribing parliamentarians in the past to secure votes for the secret balloting in the Senate elections.

Reports had emerged in 2018 that at least 17 MPAs of the PTI had voted for candidates other than their own party in the Senate elections which ultimately led the PPP to win two seats from the KP where it only had two senators.

The alleged horse-trading angered Prime Minister Imran Khan. A subsequent inquiry spearheaded by former KP chief minister Pervaiz Khattak found various MPAs guilty of selling their votes to rival parties.

Bacha, the former PPP MPA who can be seen allegedly distributing the currency notes to the PTI lawmakers, spoke to Geo News to say that the video was an edited one.

"Neither did I pay anyone nor did I receive [any bribe]," he said, adding that two separate videos were joined together to make this one.

Read more: Video surfaces of PTI lawmakers allegedly receiving bribes before Senate elections 2018