Average tenure of 9 NAB chairmen has been 2.55 years

LAHORE: Tainted by scandals and controversies, besides being alleged by various political oppositions in the country of victimising their key stalwarts, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will now be headed by a two-time former Intelligence Bureau Director General, Aftab Sultan.

Aftab would the national corruption watchdog’s 10th Chairman since 1999, meaning thereby that during the last 23 years since 1999, the average tenure of the nine bosses spearheading this anti-graft body has been a shade over 2.55 years.

Aftab Sultan’s nine predecessors, including the likes of Lt. General (R) Syed Muhammad Amjad, Lt. General (R) Khalid Maqbool, Lt. General (R) Muneer Hafeez, Lt. General (R) Shahid Aziz, Naveed Ahsan, Justice (R) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, Admiral (R) Syed Fasih Bukhari, Qamar Zaman Chaudhary and Justice (R) Javed Iqbal have investigated, summoned, arrested or prosecuted various high-profile personalities during their respective tenures.

Some NAB chairmen had had unceremonious ousters. For example, on February 24, 2010, the-then NAB Chief, Naveed Ahsan, had tendered resignation after the Supreme Court had declared the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) as unconstitutional, but he was asked to continue by PM Yousuf Raza Gillani to continue till appointment of his successor. On this, Ahsan took a long leave of absence, but the Supreme Court had summoned him following which he reassumed his responsibilities.

He had formally resigned in June 2010. Naveed Ahsan had assumed charge on July 7, 2007. The pressure on Naveed to pack up had also intensified when the court had directed the bureau to reopen Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

On March 10, 2011, the Supreme Court had ruled the appointment of a NAB chief, Justice (R) Deedar Hussain Shah, illegal, accepting a challenge from the PMLN.

The court had ordered Shah to immediately relinquish charge. He had held the NAB reins for five months only. Shah was appointed NAB chief on October 8, 2010.

One of PML-N’s key leaders of the time, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, had had challenged his appointment on the ground that the-then Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gillani, had not met the constitutional requirement of holding consultations with him. The government said the consultation had been done and the appointment was made after the opposition leader had rejected an earlier nominee.

Similarly, Admiral Fasih Bokhari was appointed as the NAB chairman on October 17, 2011 by the-then President Asif Zardari, but his appointment was mired in public controversies, leading to his eventual removal by the Supreme Court on May 29, 2013.

Out of the Rs6.5 billion, the recoveries during the period of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government (2018-19 till September 2021) were mere Rs1.4 billion or 21.5 per cent of the total recoveries, according to documents submitted by the additional secretary budget.

NAB had earlier claimed that it recovered Rs535 billion directly and indirectly from the corrupt elements during the past three years.