NAB chairman grilled over bureau’s performance
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice was held under the chairmanship of Senator Farooq H Naek, where National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Nazir Ahmed Butt appeared before the committee on its instructions.
During the meeting, Senator Farooq H Naek remarked that the NAB chairman had perhaps appeared before the committee for the first time.
In response, Nazir Ahmed Butt said that it was his first appearance before the committee as NAB chairman. He added that he had appeared before the committee several times while performing his previous responsibilities.
The NAB chairman said he had been assigned the responsibility in 2023. He recalled that ministers he met during his tenure repeatedly complained that the bureaucracy was afraid to make decisions and was therefore reluctant to work.
During the meeting, NAB Director General Operations briefed the committee on the bureau’s powers and performance.
The official said NAB had received 505,799 complaints since its establishment.
He said NAB also operates as an investigative agency under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
According to the briefing, NAB has so far completed 12,147 inquiries, conducted 7,339 investigations and filed 4,105 references.
The DG Operations further told the committee that NAB had been allocated Rs22.556 billion over the past three-and-a-half years.
Despite the expenditure, the bureau reported significantly higher recoveries during the same period.
The committee was informed that NAB had recovered Rs1.069 trillion over the past three-and-a-half years.
The briefing highlighted the bureau’s role in investigating corruption, financial crimes and other cases falling under its legal mandate.
The committee members discussed NAB’s powers, investigations, recoveries and its overall performance during the meeting.
The NAB chairman and officials responded to questions from the committee and provided details about the bureau’s operations and financial performance.
