KOHAT: The district council session, called to discuss distribution of the Rs20 million grant approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was abruptly adjourned by its convener after recitation from the Holy Quran by district nazim Maulana Niaz Mohammad of JUI (F) on Tuesday.

The session was chaired by convener Abdur Rasheed of PML-N which had been manoeuvering the no-confidence motion against the nazim, apparently engineered from outside by the Afridi brothers, including former senator Abbas Afridi and his brother MPA Amjid Afridi. However, the move failed after the JUI-F and PTI members joined hands.

Many of the members from the JUI-F, PTI and PML-N approached the convener in his office for resumption of the session, but he remained adamant. Then the members went to the office of the assistant director local government and urged him to appoint alternative chair for conducting the session.

The delegation was led by opposition leader Naseem Afridi. Sources said that the LG official told the delegation that the provision for that could not be applied when the district nazim was in the vicinity of the district council hall.

The JUI-F and PTI form majority in the house, while the PML-N has only two members.

Sources said that the brothers had been able to buy loyalties of some of the district council members belonging to the PTI, JUI-F and independents. The Tuesday’s session was called to discuss the matter of distribution and mode of expenditure of Rs20 million grant approved by the prime minister for the district council.

The grant, according to Abbas Afridi, was sanctioned due to his efforts and therefore he wanted his man in the seat of district nazim for its utilisation. He had also been demanding that Rs10 million of the funds should be given to the PML-N members and its supporters.

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2017