Islamabad, Jun 6 (PTI) Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog today approved an inquiry against former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi over alleged misuse of power in awarding a contract for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took the decision in its executive board meeting in Islamabad which was headed by its chairman, Javed Iqbal.

Abbasi was minister for petroleum in the cabinet of Sharif when their government awarded a 15-year contract for LNG terminal in Karachi.

The NAB decided to launch the probe after complaints that the rules were violated to the award the contract, according to officials privy to the meeting.

Iqbal said in the meeting that corruption was a cancer and his department was committed to uproot it from the society.

Earlier, the NAB had closed an inquiry against Abbasi in December 2016 after 17 months of investigations when it failed to find any irregularity in awarding a Rs220 billion contract for the import and distribution of LNG in 2013.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)