NAB's job is to hold corrupt accountable, not fix institutions: Shahzad Akbar

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said Sunday that the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) job was to hold the corrupt accountable and not fix institutions.

Akbar was holding a press conference during which he said amendments to the NAB ordinance were made in broad daylight for all to see.

He said there was a lot of talk about the amendment to the ordinance since the past few days hence a clarification was necessary on the subject.

The federal cabinet on Friday gave its approval to the NAB Ordinance, 2019, which was also approved by President Arif Alvi on the same day. Under the ordinance, NAB will no longer be allowed to take action against government employees.

The amendment would be presented to the parliament and anyone wishing to improve it was welcome, he said. Nonetheless, if anyone desired personal gain, they would not get it in the incumbent government, he added.

Akbar said the country's economy had left the intensive care unit (ICU) and was on a path to recovery. "We have now started to move towards progress, the institutions are being improved by strengthening them," he added.

He noted that alongside the economic restoration, it was evident that the institutions' reputation was also being rebuilt.

"It's being said the bureaucracy is being given some leeway; that includes politicians and bureaucracy both. There is also a misconception that NAB cannot go above or below a particular account," he said.

Underlining that a curse of corruption had spread in the society, the special assistant said strict legislation was required to fix it. Those who engaged in corruption or benefited from kickbacks should be given strict punishment, he added.

"If someone's case came to the NAB just because they made some decision, then that was uncalled for," he stated, adding, however, that the anti-graft watchdog did not deal with tax-related issues but that that was the Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) job.

"Are tax matters a corruption issue? It's not like someone is being given any tax-related leeway with the passing of these laws. Those matters will be overseen by the relevant institutions."

Akbar clarified that the NAB's laws would not be applicable to anyone who had no links to holders of any public offices. Its "job is to detect corruption, not fix institutions", he said.

"The defects in methodology isn't the NAB's authority; for that, departmental action is required. The NAB will deal wherever there's corruption but whenever there's a fault in methodology, the relevant institution will deal with it by themselves.

"There won't be any action on just a suggestion or advice until and unless there's a proven benefit to it," he noted.

Referring to the so-called 'Abu Bachao campaign', he said there could not be any cooperation for it, that much had been made clear. "Accountability is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) slogan and, so, we cannot step back from it."