53 candidates aspire to become NADRA chief

Three-year tenure of incumbent chairman expires on February 5

ISLAMABAD: Considering themselves as suitable candidate, as many as 183 job-seekers have applied for the post of chairman of the country’s top database authority – an important position that will fall vacant on February 6.

Among the applicants is the incumbent chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Usman Yusuf Mobeen, whose three-year tenure as chairman is going to expire on February 5.

A top official privy to the development said a scrutiny committee headed by an additional secretary of the interior ministry that went through the applications had rejected some 130 applications for not meeting criteria mentioned in an advertisement published last month.



Following a thorough scrutiny, only 53 candidates had been shortlisted, he said.

“Only top 10 candidates, securing maximum marks among 53 shortlisted applicants, will be asked to appear before a panel of interviewers for final selection. The Minister for Interior will himself head that panel,” the official said.

Mobeen is considered to be a top runner among all the candidates, for having three years of experience of heading the database authority, while he is also stated to be close to the interior minister.

Nadra is an autonomous body that works under the administrative control of the interior ministry.

In December 2017, the interior ministry had forwarded a summary to the federal cabinet, seeking extension in the services of Usman Yusuf Mobeen, but it was rejected by the cabinet on the ground that laws do not provide for extension of another three years.



The federal cabinet had asked the interior ministry to advertise the post for fresh appointment.

Former NADRA deputy chairman Syed Muzaffar Ali – who was dismissed from service on January 19 (Friday) by NADRA management on the charges of misuse of powers – is among the 130 applicants whose applications have been rejected during the scrutiny process.

Ali, who rejects all the charges levelled against him, has already been pursuing his cases against the Nadra management in the Islamabad High Court and the Lahore High Court.

In his short comment over the situation, Ali, talking to The Express Tribune, said “Decision of my dismissal from service on false accusation by the Nadra management amid the process of finalisation of candidate for the slot is one of the main objectives to keep me away from the whole selection process and to defame me.”



Another Nadra officer, Col (retd) Talha Saeed, who is currently serving as director-general, had also applied for the position; however, he is stated not only slightly over-age – as maximum age limit mentioned in the advertisement is 55 years – but also holds an unverifiable degree issued by Preston University in 1997, according to a senior NADRA officer.

The laid down criteria for the slot provides that interested applicant must hold a master’s degree with 15 years of experience in relevant field.