The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi has recommended opening another reference against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly violating rules and procedures set by the federal government in the appointment of the managing director of Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

According to a statement issued by NAB, Abbasi had appointed Sheikh Imranul Haq as managing director of PSO by allegedly violating rules and procedures laid down for appointments of chief executive officers in public sector enterprises.

An investigation, the statement said, "revealed" that Haq was appointed as MD PSO on the basis of having "personal affiliation" with the minister.

The appointment was made without verifying his academic and professional credentials, it added.

According to NAB, the investigation "revealed that Sheikh Imranul Haq developed personal relations with the then minister petroleum during the establishment of the LNG terminal in the year 2013 to 2015."

The former prime minister is currently on 14-days physical remand in a case pertaining to the LNG scandal. Abbasi is accused of awarding a 15-year contract for an LNG terminal against the rules when he was petroleum minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The case was closed by NAB in 2016, but reopened in 2018.