Transparency International lauds NAB’s performance to curb corruption

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Transparency International (TI) on Thursday while expressing satisfaction over the actions of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to eliminate corruption the country said that the anti-graft watchdog performed well under its present chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal.

According to Transparency International, the NAB was rejuvenated after it took various initiatives, including adopting the combined investigation team (CIT) system, in order to have collective wisdom in the conduct of inquiries or investigations on merit.

The anti-graft agency has collected Rs153 billion from corrupt elements and filed 530 references and its overall conviction ratio in the accountability courts is about 70 per cent, the statement noted.

The Transparency International further outlined recommendations “to end corruption and restore trust in politics” and stated “it is imperative to prevent opportunities for political corruption and to foster the integrity of political systems.”

Earlier today, despite of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claims of taking measures for accountability and reducing corruption from the country, Pakistan’s ranking dropped to 120 out of 180 countries with a worse score of 32 out of 100.

In the previous report, Pakistan scored 33 out of 100, which implies that no improvement could be observed in terms of eradication of corruption from the state. Last year, Pakistan’s ranking stood at 117, same as in 2017, although it’s score had slightly increased to 33.

The CPI uses a scale from 0 to 100, in which 100 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt. Shockingly, two-third of 180 countries have scored below 50, whereas the average score is 43 out of 100.