Recently, a summary was sent to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for making an appointment on the slot of member oil. Two names were recommended including Ministry of Petroleum’s Director General Oil Muhammad Azam and Ogra’s Executive Director Oil Enforcement Shahid Nauman, sources say.
At present, the regulator, an all-important monitoring body, is virtually stuck and held hostage by its top officials, most of whom were part of the so-called Ogra scandal, but later turned into key witnesses.
These officers, who number around 19, have prevented the regulator from performing its functions and it has become virtually dead since the scam emerged during the previous government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The case relating to the scandal is being pursued by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the National Accountability Court.
The officers, who come from the finance, gas and other important departments, are a hurdle in the way of bailing out gas distribution companies, which are on the verge of default.
However, the federal government, while ignoring the recommendation, appointed the Ministry of Petroleum’s Additional Secretary Naeem Malik as member oil for three months. It sparked a new controversy as the recommendation was in the Prime Minister’s Office and the government issued a notification appointing Malik on the post rather than picking a permanent member.
However, sources said the additional secretary, who is known to be a man of principles, had refused to take charge because of the conflict of interest as a policymaker could not become a regulator.
The petroleum minister and some top officials of his ministry were giving their backing to the director general oil, a geologist, in an effort to get the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) implemented. Among these, implementation of the fresh policy guidelines for Ogra is quite important for the gas companies.
Earlier, the additional secretary of the Cabinet Division was appointed member oil, but he was later transferred and since then the slot had been vacant.
Ogra’s Member Gas Amir Naseem, who was brought from gas utility Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), had opposed the appointment of additional secretary of the Cabinet Division and sent a strongly worded note to the Cabinet Division.
However, the Ministry of Law argued that the prime minister was a competent authority and could appoint anyone.
The Cabinet Division prepared a case of misconduct against the member gas for its submission to the Federal Public Services Commission (FPSC). But no action was taken.
The member gas is also facing cases in court over his appointment. This controversy is yet to be resolved.
The regulator has faced a hard time in getting funds approved for the gas utilities to pave the way for laying a liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline from Karachi to Lahore.
The officials, who are witnesses in the Ogra case, are said to have forced the member gas to oppose the pipeline project.
They also did not accept the assessment of a consultant hired by Ogra to determine the exact unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) losses for the gas distribution companies. The consultant had backed the 7% ceiling allowed to the companies, terming it justified.
Had the assessment been accepted, it could have exposed the reality behind the scam. Even, fee payment to the consultant was blocked.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.
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