PESHAWAR: Disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Ziaullah Afridi claimed on Tuesday that party chief Imran Khan had lied to the public in his Liaquat Bagh rally speech about the issue of illegal appointments in the Bank of Khyber.
He added that the PTI chief was trying to protect Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) CM Pervaiz Khattak who was involved in illegal hiring at the bank.
He maintained that Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq also illegally appointed bank employees when he was the K-P finance minister.
“PTI Chairman Imran Khan lied to the people at his Liaquat Bagh rally. I challenge him and Sirajul Haq to a debate on the issue,” Afridi, former K-P mines and minerals development minister, told reporters at a press conference in Peshawar.
“The managing director of the bank was appointed illegally when the JI chief was the K-P finance minister. CM Pervaiz Khattak is also involved in such appointments,” he claimed.
Afridi announced that he would stage a sit-in outside the K-P Ehtesab Commission and the National Accountability Bureau office against illegal appointments and corruption in the province.
“If the Bank of Khyber issue goes to the Supreme Court, then Sirajul Haq will turn out to be much worse than Nawaz Sharif in terms of Articles 62 and 63 [the clause that requires a parliamentarian to be honest and truthful] ,” he maintained.
“The appointment of the Bank’s MD is a major scam but it has not been impartially investigated.”
The MPA said the Bank of Khyber, a very profitable institution of the province, was going bankrupt and the CM, the PTI chief, his friend Rashid Ali Khan and MD Shamsul Qayyum were responsible for it.
“The JI is making a bargain in the bank scandal, but it will become a death trap for it,” he remarked.
Afridi added that he would take the case to the court with all evidence in hand.
“The bank’s assets have been sold to Imran Khan’s close aide Rashid Ali Khan, who played an important role in the PTI chief’s money trail.”
The estranged PTI lawmaker said billions of rupees were being given in loans to people in other provinces through the Bank of Khyber and the parliamentary committee report on the scandal was like ridiculing the public.
Source: Express Tribune
