Omer Sarfraz Cheema sworn in as Punjab governor

Cheema is among PTI founding members and has served the party in various capacities

LAHORE:

Founding member of the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Omer Sarfraz Cheema was sworn in as Punjab Governor during a ceremony held at the Governor's House on Sunday.

Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti administered the oath to the new governor, according to an official statement.

Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal read out the notification of the appointment to the participants of the gathering.

Former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar, MPAs Raja Yasir Humayon Sarfraz, Sadia Sohail Rana, Musarrat Jamshed, Inspector General of Police Punjab Roy Sardar Ali Khan, members of the civil society and a large number of party workers attended the ceremony.

Also read: Sarwar gets the boot as govt appoints Omar Cheema as governor Punjab

Cheema is among the founding members of the PTI and served the party as its central information secretary for seven years and as vice president. He hails from Punjab's Wazirabad district.

The ruling party removed Chaudhry Sarwar as Punjab governor and appointed Omar Cheema in his place, ahead of the election for the new Punjab chief minister and the voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly.

Sources said the governor was removed on the complaint of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi.

Elahi had accused Sarwar of siding with the Aleem Khan group – that is supporting PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz against Elahi – in the election of the Punjab CM.