KARACHI: The United Business Group (UBG) has made serious corruption allegations on the office-bearers of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and demanded immediate appointment of administrator for a free and transparent audit and election of the apex body.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday at Karachi Press Club (KPC), leaders of UBG Zubair Tufail central President, Khalid Tawab Chairman UBG Sindh Region, Hanif Gohar Secretary General Sindh chapter and others charged that office-bearers of Businessman Panel (BMP) have completely failed to resolve the issues being faced by the business community, and at this crucial time they are engaged in their personal agendas.
On the occasion Gulzar Feroze Central Spokesperson, Shakil Ahmed Dhingra, Ahmed Chinoy, Abdul Sami Khan, Malik Khuda Bakhsh, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Sheikh Umar Rehan, Noor Ahmed Khan, Maryam Chaudhry and Saeeda Bano were also present.
FPCCI president condemns allegations levelled by DGTO
“The Directorate General of Trade Organisation (DGTO) should immediately dismiss the illegal office-bearers of FPCCI and investigate the financial irregularities made by the sitting president, Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, to recover the amount illegally spent from the treasury of the FPCCI,” they demanded.
They alleged that president FPCCI has made unnecessary and unauthorised payment of millions of rupees without the approval of the committee and brought the FPCCI to the level of bankruptcy. President FPCCI has also donated Rs 20 million from the treasury to a political party for personal gratification, they alleged.
DGTO has also noticed these financial irregularities in the federation and asked about the expenditures made during the year; however, instead of President FPCCI, the Secretary General FPCCI has replied to the DGTO, which is even not satisfactory, they said.
Zubair Tufail said that instead of lending support, President FPCCI and other leaders of the Businessman Panel are raising fingers on the Caretaker Federal Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz and Punjab Commerce Minister S M Tanveer. “Although, S M Tanveer is the Patron-in-Chief of UBG, he never participated in the meeting of UBG, while Gohar Ejaz had no connection with UBG,” he added.
On the other side Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Haji Ghulam Ali belongs to Businessman Group and he is continually attending the group meetings, he motioned.
However, Khalid Tawab said that the current FPCCI president purchased land in Lahore amounting Rs 220 million and not only the FPCCI’s funds were used, but also Rs 100 million were borrowed from the bank at 25 percent interest. While the UBG was in power, FPCCI was financially stable and every single penny was spent carefully without borrowing from the bank, he said.
He said that during the last few years, the interference of political parties has increased and the support of political parties in elections has disappointed the business community. “We will run the system of the federation in a good manner whenever we come to power,” Tufail said. He demanded appointment of administrator in the federation, adding action should be taken against those who have misused the funds.
Hanif Gohar said after we raised the issue, a crackdown started in the country and the dollar fell by 15 rupees, while sugar suddenly became cheaper; gold is also becoming cheaper. We want the institutions to be strong, he said.
He alleged that the federation has failed in playing its role in the development of the economy. Legally, the president of FPCCI has the authority to spend up to Rs 0.1 million, but the President FPCCI has spent millions of rupees from the treasury of the federation without any approval, he claimed.
Ahmed Chenoy said that the 4-year performance of BMP and its office-bearers in the FPCCI is very disappointing and the sitting president could not give effective policies to the government in the better interest of the business community.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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