Sharjah appointee spoke loudly on Islamic banking

When he has cause to raise questions, Yaqoub Al Naqbi makes sure the council knows all about it, Ola Salem reports.

Questions from Yaqoub Al Naqbi, a former Armed Forces officer, put a bank governor on the spot. Fatima Al Marzooqi / The National

ABU DHABI // Federal National Council member Dr Yaqoub Al Naqbi, a businessman from Sharjah, goes about his duties with little fanfare.

Dr Al Naqbi, who was appointed to the council in 2011, has kept a low profile in the FNC’s public sessions and in the press. One issue he did take to the floor in 2012 was to ask the governor of the Central Bank, who at the time was Sultan Al Suwaidi, why commercial banks were permitted to conduct what they called Islamic banking.

Dr Al Naqbi told the governor – who stepped down in September – that banks were breaking the law by offering Islamic services from the same premises as their commercial activities.

Other than a handful of other times, Dr Al Naqbi has remained passive in sessions.

For the past few years, he has sat as chairman of the council’s Interior and Defence Committee, but has given little to no media insight to the committee’s work.

He previously worked for the Armed Forces as an engineer officer and was project engineer at an electricity and water authority.