ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday held a meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad.
During the discussion, the KP chief minister raised concerns over the non-release of pending funds to the province, along with other related matters.
Talking to journalists after the meeting, CM Afridi described the engagement as a “demand of his role”.
“Perhaps as a political worker, I would never have sat there. But I deemed it appropriate for my people and my province, where the conditions are getting serious whether financially or due to decisions made in closed rooms,” he said, stressing that the meeting was unavoidable.
Citing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report released in November, Afridi alleged that the lender had issued a “charge-sheet” against the federal government over corruption amounting to Rs5,300 billion.
“Rs4bn is a small amount. They are nothing compared to the sacrifices that my people in Tirah, Kurram and Bajaur are giving,” he said, adding that raising objections over this sum amounted to “dismissing those sacrifices”.
Earlier in the day, shortly after noon, PTI’s North Punjab chapter confirmed in a post on X that CM Afridi had arrived at the PM House.
A day earlier, while speaking at a jirga in Khyber, the chief minister had announced his plan to meet the prime minister in Islamabad on Monday to “plead the case of KP’s rights and secure our outstanding dues”.
The meeting followed a letter sent by Afridi to PM Shehbaz last week, in which he criticised what he called the Centre’s “persistent failure” to release “constitutionally guaranteed” funds for KP, particularly allocations meant for the merged districts under the National Finance Commission (NFC).
Arguing that the funding delay had “now translated into an acute fiscal and governance crisis for the province”, Afridi called for the “full and unconditional” disbursement of all pending federal payments.
He further stated that KP was entitled to Rs658.4 billion under the NFC but had so far received only Rs604 billion, leaving a gap of Rs54.4 billion.
Since assuming office as chief minister in October last year, Afridi has repeatedly accused the federal government of delaying the release of funds designated for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
