Sher Afzal
KARACHI: Provincial Ministers on Wednesday have strongly condemned NAB’s reference against Chief Minister of Sindh. They have called this decision as an outcome “NAB & Niazi nexus”.
Provincial Ministers have also called this reference against Sindh Chief Minister based on ill intended & malicious.
They commented that “Attempts are being made to harass the PPP ministers by filing false cases, but we are not afraid of such acts.”
Provincial Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Provincial Minister for Education Saeed Ghani and Provincial Advisor on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab expressed their views while addressing a joint press conference at Sindh Assembly Committee Room. Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh Shehzad Memon and former Provincial Minister Javed Naguri were also present on the occasion.
Furthermore, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that PPP candidate Syed Ameer Ali Shah won by-election in Umerkot in which Pakistan People’s Party got more votes than the general election, while his rival, the Grand Alliance candidate supported by federal government alliance, received less votes than in the previous general election.
While underlining the mega-development projects he added that the Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was implementing the vision of PPP Chairman Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari by caring out mega development works in the province at a fast pace. Therefore, the people of PS-52 gave their mandate to PPP in absolute majority, he said.
He also commented that some forces did not want a PPP government in 2018, even after the formation of PPP government in Sindh; there were rumors of Governor Rule in Sindh. He said that Murad Ali Shah has never indulged in anything off beam.
Nasir was of the view that Chief Minister Sindh has absolutely worked for the interest of the people. The case against the Chief Minister of Sindh was based on ill intention and added that they could not be terrorized by such cases
On the other hand, Barrister Murtaza Wahab expressed his opinion saying that that no official communication has been received yet over reference against Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. We have come to know about the NAB reference through media, he said. Moreover, Murad added that if this news is true then everything will be brought before the court. We have never chosen the path of escape.
He said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had earlier appeared before the NAB in 2019 and had answered the questions of NAB.
While talking about electricity issue of Karachi, Murad added that the aforesaid reference related to Noriabad Power Company , which was set up under a public-private partnership at a cost of Rs. 15.2 billion for providing 100 MW of cheapest electricity to Karachi. He said, 2315 gigawatts of electricity were being supplied to Karachi every month and Sindh government earned Rs 24.82 billion revenue.
Additionally, he underlined that the second part of reference pertains to Sindh Transmission And Dispatch Company. After the completion of Nooriabad Power Company, National Dispatch and Transmission Company contacted to transmit electricity from Noori abad to Karachi but they refused. Since then, Sindh government decided to establish its own transmission and dispatch company at a cost of Rs 1.9 billion. The company has not only repaid the loan of Rs 27 crore but also earned a profit of Rs 12 crore.
Murad blamed NAB for affecting credibility of Sindh government saying that “NAB was set up to curb corruption but NAB was bent upon to ruin credibility of Sindh government.” He said that both the companies are earning profits and contributing in the revenue of province, besides supplying cheapest electricity to K-Electric
During their address, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani also gave his opinion saying that the NAB reference was nothing but malicious.
Ghani highlighted that the NAB’s actions has been “intensified against the members of PPP”. He quoted the cases against Jam Khan Shoro, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Sohail Anwar Sial and said that Syed Khursheed Shah was arrested in facing false charges.
NAB is a tool of PTI government which was being used against political opponents, Ghani said. Referring Sheikh Rasheed statement, Ghani underscored that to the reference against Chief Minister came a few days after Sheikh Rashid’s statement in which he said that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was the only person who was challenging and giving tough time to PTI.
He said that no national exchequer has been wasted in Norriabad Power Company; both companies were serving the people of Karachi. Ghani was of the view that there were cases against Prime Minister, Asad Qaiser and Pervez Khattak in NAB. Zulfi Bukhari did not even appear before the NAB, but given clean chit.
Provincial Minister Ghani criticized NAB saying that Chairman NAB had become a servant of the government, after his video appeared on Social media. Saeed Ghani said that we never deviated from the principles, it had been our history. No one can pressurize them.
