ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to appear before it on Friday (February 8) in a scandal related to liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract award, ARY News reported on Wednesday.
Sources privy to the development said, senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and erstwhile PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been summoned by the accountability watchdog Rawalpindi chapter.
Abbasi’s statement as minister for Petroleum will be recorded by the bureau, sources added.
The NAB inquiring into a case registered in 2015 against Abbasi for awarding a LNG import contract which caused a potential $2 billion loss to the national exchequer.
Read more: Miftah Ismail appears before NAB in LNG scandal probe
Accusing the then, minister for petroleum, Khaqan Abbasi of misusing his authority, the case was registered on complaint of Shahid Sattar – an energy expert and former member of the Planning Commission and the SSGC board of directors – on July 29, 2015.
According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
The NAB documents at that time said it had been recommended that the names of all accused in the case, including Mr Abbasi, should be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL). However, no such decision was taken.
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