Ninewa governor Nafal al-Akob has accused a fact-finding committee formed by members of the Iraqi parliament of derailing the course of justice and distorting the truth, addressing a message to PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi in which he expressed readiness to stand before justice.
At a news conference he gave at his office on Tuesday March 19, al-Akob said, “I would like to address a message to PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi, parliament presidency and all the MPs. The fact-finding committee has tried to pervert the course of justice and mislead the PM and parliament through baseless information.”
The committee has worked to instigate public opinion against governor and Ninewa local administration
“This committee’s report has selected what serves its goals to instigate the public opinion against the governor and Ninewa local administration”, he added, reaffirming that the main goal is “to replace the governor.”
Al-Akob seid he was ready to stand before an Iraqi court if it was proved that he had involved in corruption.
He acknowledged that he had some “administrative mistakes”, and claimed they were intended for the general interest. He strongly denied accusations of wasting public money and embezzlement.
The committee revealed serious violations by the governor
On March 4, 2019, Osama al-Nujaifi, head of the fact-finding committee called on Iraqi PM to dismiss al-Akob from his post and suggested travel restrictions on him, emphasizing that “the committee has revealed serious violations by the governor.”
On March 13, Ninewa governor filed a lawsuit against parliament speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi accusing hm of overstepping his powers, saying that he didn’t have the authority to interrogate or dismiss a governor.
The Iraqi parliament formed a fact-finding committee supervised by the parliament speaker and headed by parliament member Osama al-Nujaifi.
