2018 Senate polls: Brother of ex-MPA says he has evidence of horse-trading

TIMERGARA: The brother of a former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker on Thursday claimed that he had undeniable evidence of the sale and purchase of votes during the 2018 Senate elections.

Mohammad Ayan, a brother of former PTI Member Provincial Assembly Nagina Khan, told reporters at Talash town in Lower Dir district that he would like to provide enough proof to the three-member ministerial probe committee if it wished so.

He claimed that his sister Nagina Khan, who was elected on a reserved seat for women in the 2013 general election on the PTI ticket, had also sold her vote by receiving money from the PPP and PTI candidates for the Senate.

He said the three-member committee formed by Prime Minister Imran Khan for ascertaining the facts could contact him anywhere and anytime.

Mohammad Ayan, who is also a PTI worker from Thana area of Malakand district, said that he had disclosed the fact of horse-trading in the Senate election during a press conference in February 2018 a month before the polls.

He complained that none among the party leaders at that time had taken notice of his disclosure in which he had also raised the issue of his sister Nagina Khan.

The government has formed a three-member committee comprising Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, and Shahzad Akbar, the prime minister’s advisor on accountability. The committee is probing the horse-trading scam in the 2018 Senate elections.

Nagina Khan, the then PTI MPA, was among the lawmakers who were later expelled from the party on the charge of selling their votes. Along with other PTI lawmakers, she had denied the charges. She joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 2018.

Mohammad Ayan said that his allegations were proved true after the Senate elections. He alleged that his brother-in-law Abdul Khaliq Afridi, who married his sister after her election to the KP Assembly, was behind the bargaining to sell her vote.

About the money his sister received, he said he did not exactly know the figure but it was from Rs40 million to Rs50 million. He said the accused lawmakers including his sister had received money from both the candidates of both the PTI and opposition parties. He maintained that he had undeniable proof of the horse-trading and could provide these to the three-member ministerial committee.