Accusations against a female journalist from Peshawar regarding a proposed purchase of a Fortuner car for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister’s Advisor on Social Welfare, Mashal Yousafzai, have ignited a firestorm on social media platforms. Mashal Yousafzai took to X (formerly Twitter) to accuse Nadia Sabohi, a senior reporter of Geo News in Peshawar, of spreading propaganda by leaking information about the car purchase. Yousafzai alleged that Sabohi initiated the smear campaign after being denied money. He shared WhatsApp messages, publicly revealing Sabohi’s personal mobile number.
Regarding the allegations, Nadia Sabohi told Independent Urdu that she had received this news before Eid and she contacted Mashal to find out her position, and she said, ‘You are not familiar with journalism.’
According to Nadia, she ran the news after Eid that she received WhatsApp messages from Mishal Yousafzai, accusing me of taking money from ‘boys’ and PTI lawyer
The controversy stems from reports aired on various private TV channels, including Geo News, claiming that a summary for purchasing a Toyota Fortuner worth 17 million PKR for the Chief Minister’s Advisor had been sent to the province’s Chief Executive. The summary also included the purchase of a ‘Kia’ support vehicle for the Secretary of Social Welfare, with the Secretary’s signature on the document. However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Khyber Pakhtunkhwa swiftly issued a statement, attributing to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, denying the approval of the vehicle purchase summary.
An anonymous senior official from the Social Welfare Department disclosed that the vehicle purchase summary for Mashal Yousafzai and the Secretary had been prepared on the instructions of a female advisor about a month ago. Although the summary had not been forwarded to the Chief Minister’s House, it was recently sent to Yousafzai’s office. However, the official clarified that the summary had not been returned to the department from Yousafzai’s office nor forwarded to the Chief Minister’s House.
In response, an anonymous official from the Chief Minister’s House revealed that no such summary had been received, and Chief Minister Gandapur had not issued any statement on the matter. The official refuted claims that the Chief Minister’s House had made any official statement, suggesting that the statement released by PTI’s social media accounts was unauthorized. As the controversy unfolds, the silence from Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s office continues to fuel speculation and debate surrounding the alleged car purchase scandal.