ISLAMABAD – Former PM Nawaz Sharif has been exposed lying to the Nation yetagain.
A renowned journalist came up with a claim that former prime minister NawazSharif had borne the expenses of PM House from his own pocket when he wasin power, adding that evidence of payment was also shown to thenewly-elected premier in a briefing.
However, the data available online contradicts the observation of theveteran journalist, confirming that the expenditures were made by using thepublic money.
Safi again took to social media to validate his claim regarding thesimplicity of the incarcerated Nawaz and this time with images of a chequegiven by the former premier against the bills of different ceremonies.
The shared documents bear interesting things need to be noticed, one is theheader of the invoice, “Details of Family Wing Outstanding Bills”. The word“outstanding” explains itself that these are the bills of parties that hehad there and dinners he had personally hosted. These bills are supposed tobe paid by Nawaz, as PM House budget does not cover these expenses.
According to the documents, Nawaz had paid bills around Rs6 million forholding lunch, dinners and arrangements of his granddaughter Mahnoor’sbirthday during March 3, 2015 to June 14, 2017 at the PM House.
The breakdown of the outstanding bills shows;
Rs3.734 million spent on lunch and dinners during May 1, 2016 to Aug 9,2017Rs297,422 paid for the birthday party of Mahnoor andmiscellaneous bills in March 2015Rs77,000 paid for purchasing goats fordonationRs36,967 paid for food expenditures for Hussain Nawaz’s guestsduring May 24, 2017 to June 14, 2017
The former premier, who is currently serving his term in Adiala Jail afterhis conviction in the Avenfield corruption case, did not bear the expensesof PM House, instead of his personal gatherings.
The official data for the outgoing fiscal year 2017-18 shows that thegovernment had allocated Rs917 million for the Prime Minister Office.However, the amount paid by the imprisoned Sharif is 0.645 percent of thetotal amount embarked for the expenses of the premier’s residence.
Another thing in the documents that hold the attention is the date writtenon the cheque issued by the former prime minister against the ‘expenses’.
The cheque was signed on August 29, 2017, nearly a month after he wasdisqualified by the Supreme Court after he found guilty in the PanamaPapers case for concealing his assets.