National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan has given the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) 24 hours to apologise over what he called defamatory corruption allegations against him, threatening legal action if the anti-graft agency fails to do so.
The former interim government adviser rejected allegations linking him to corruption worth 2.76 crore taka at the Youth and Sports Ministry, saying he had no direct role in either of the two administrative processes under scrutiny.
“I call upon the ACC to apologise within 24 hours for the defamation caused to me and to have the reports published citing you withdrawn. Otherwise, I will be compelled to take legal action and file a defamation case,” Asif said at a press conference at the NCP’s temporary central office in Dhaka’s Banglamotor on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the day, ACC Deputy Director Akhtarul Islam announced an inquiry against Asif and three others over alleged irregularities involving postings and promotions at the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Islam initially said the allegations had shown “preliminary evidence,” but later withdrew the remark, according to Asif.
Asif claimed the ACC official subsequently told journalists in a WhatsApp group that the comment about preliminary evidence had been a “slip of the tongue” and asked them not to report it.
“But the reports published on the basis of his statement were not changed. I have personally been defamed by this,” Asif said.
The ACC allegations concern two sets of alleged irregularities: 76 lakh taka involving 38 upazila youth development officials and 2 crore taka involving promotions. The allegations name Asif, the then and current Youth and Sports secretary, a joint secretary and a deputy secretary.
Asif disputed the ACC’s account of both cases.
He said 112 Grade-10 assistant upazila youth development officers were irregularly placed in current charge of Grade-9 positions in 2021 and remained there until 2025, despite rules limiting such arrangements to six months.
A court subsequently declared the 2021 order illegal, he said. By then, 38 of the 112 officers remained in those positions, while the others had retired or secured regular promotions.
The current-charge assignments of those 38 officers were therefore cancelled to implement the court ruling, returning them to their substantive Grade-10 posts, Asif said.
“The ACC allegations have presented the matter in exactly the opposite way,” he said.
Asif also challenged the allegation concerning promotions, saying 182 officials, not 150, were promoted following recommendations from the Public Service Commission (PSC).
He said a seniority list prepared by the Youth and Sports Ministry in coordination with the Public Administration Ministry was submitted to the PSC along with service records, annual confidential reports and disciplinary information.
“The first 182 people recommended by the PSC were the same 182 people who were promoted,” Asif said.
“If we had disregarded the PSC recommendations and picked somebody ranked 600th or 700th for promotion, then an allegation of corruption could have been made.”
He also questioned whether the ACC would investigate the PSC if it considered the promotion process corrupt.
Asif said neither matter was handled at the adviser level and that the relevant orders were signed by the ministry secretary.
“I was not the signing authority for either of these orders. The secretary was,” he said. “Officially, there was no scope for my direct involvement in either process.”
The former adviser said he was prepared to provide investigators with all relevant files, documents and information, while urging the ACC to examine the administrative record before reaching any conclusion.
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