ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan on Tuesday tendered resignation from his post after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference against him in the accountability court over Nandipur Power Project scam.
In his resignation to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader said that he has resigned from his post to prove the allegations against him are baseless.
In his hand writer resignation, Babar Awan says, “I am resigning as advisor to PM so as to prove baseless allegations of NAB wrong.”
Babar Awan stated that the rule of law should begin from him, adding that he is not one of those who stick to their positions.
In his tweet he said: “Just reached PM House to tender my resignation from Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Rule of Law begins with me. Thank you, Insafians for standing by me always. I will never let you down.”
The resignation comes after the National Accountability Bureau on Tuesday filed a corruption reference against former minister for law and justice Babar Awan regarding a delay in Nandipur Project in Accountability Courts Islamabad.
The former federal minister for water and power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, along with other officers of the ministry, also faces a corruption reference for the delay in Nandipur Project.
The corruption references were filed after a commission, constituted at the behest of the Supreme Court, held officers of the Ministry of Law and Justice responsible for the delay.
The Nandipur Power Project was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in December 2007 at a cost of 329 million dollars. After approval, the contract was signed in January 2008, between Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL) and Dong Fang Electric Corporation (DEC), China and two consortiums — COFACE for 68.967 million euros and SINOSURE for 150.151 million dollars.
In 2008, the Ministry of Water and Power approached the Ministry of Law to issue a legal opinion but accused in connivance with each other and with malafide intentions, the latter repeatedly refused to issue on flimsy grounds.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Water and Power also failed to take any concrete measures to resolve the issue and the matter remained pending.
The legal opinion was issued in November 2011; the delay caused a loss of 27 billion rupees. NNI
