Courtesy PID
Shahzad Akbar says he will continue to serve Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and contribute as member of legal fraternity
Adviser to the P.M. on Accountability and the Interior Shahzad Akbar on Monday announced that he was stepping down from the position but will continue to remain a member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
“I have tendered my resignation today to P.M. as adviser,” he said in a posting on Twitter. “I sincerely hope the process of accountability continues under leadership of P.M. Imran Khan as per PTI’s manifesto. I will remain associated with party and keep contributing as member of legal fraternity,” he added.
According to sources familiar with the development, Akbar’s resignation had been on the cards since late last year, with Prime Minister Imran Khan having interviewed several candidates for his replacement in that time.
Reacting to Akbar’s announcement, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that the former adviser would continue to serve as part of the PTI. “You worked under tremendous pressure,” he wrote on Twitter. “It was never easy to take on mafias, but the way you worked and handled cases is admirable, more important work is now awaiting you,” he added.
Akbar was appointed an adviser with the status of a federal minister on July 22, 2020. Prior to assuming the charge, he had been serving as the Special Assistant to the P.M. for Interior and Accountability, as well as the chief of the Assets Recovery Unit.
During his tenure, Akbar repeatedly claimed that he possessed “irrefutable” evidence of the Sharif family’s financial corruption, but failed to prove any of them sufficiently to secure a conviction. The opposition has often accused him of spearheading a “political witch-hunt” against them on the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan.