ISLAMABAD – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday summoned former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal in a probe related to alleged corruption in the Narowal Sports City case.
Iqbal, who has to present himself in NAB’s Rawalpindi office on Wednesday, is accused of causing losses worth billions to the national exchequer by initiating the Sports City project in his home constituency, NA-78, in violation of rules.
NAB, in its press release, said that it had received a complaint against the misappropriation of Rs6 billion funds in the. Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, the NAB chairperson, ordered for the complaint to be verified and took notice of the case as rules were violated in its construction.
The sports city, which spreads over 44 acres of land, is being built only 800 metres from the Indian border. This has raised some security concerns too.
Furthermore, it has been revealed that the Pakistan Sports Board exceeded its authority in the construction of Narowal Sports City.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/pml-ns-rana-sanaullah-arrested-by-anti-narcotics-force/
Narowal Sports City case
Last year, NAB had announced that it would initiate a probe into alleged violation of rules in the construction of the National Sports City project – just a day after its inauguration by President Mamnoon Hussain.
A special allocation was made for it through the Public Sector Development Programme. PSDP is used by the federal government to provide budgetary resources for development projects. The funds were then spent through the Sports Board of Pakistan, even though after the 18th amendment the sports ministry devolved and it became a provincial matter.
The total cost of the project was Rs2.9 billion. More than Rs2.5 billion have been spent on it already.
Reacting to the allegations, Ahsan Iqbal tool to Twitter to show his dissent ‘in the face of shameful tactics’.
ان ہتھکنڈوں سے جھکیں گے نہ بکیں گے- سب پاکستانیوں کو دعوت ہے نارووال سپورٹس سٹی پراجیکٹ دیکھیں اور اگر گذشتہ 25 برس میں ملک میں اس کے نصف بھی کھیلوں کی سہولتوں کا ڈھانچہ تعمیر ہوا ہو تو پیش کریں – ترقی کے تمام منصوبے نواز شریف اور مسلم لیگ ن کا گناہ ہیں- https://t.co/pOjcjLC0uP
— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) July 2, 2019
He invited Pakistanis to visit the Norowal Sports City and compare the development in his tenure with that during past 25 years.
