NADRA dismisses DG Zulfiqar Ahmed over fake degree

Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has dismissed Director General Zulfiqar Ahmed after an investigation confirmed his degrees were forged.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) launched a probe at NADRA’s request and found that Zulfiqar Ahmed’s MBA degree bore the signature of an individual who was not the president of George Mason University at the time, Express News reported.

Additionally, his BBA degree listed a college name that had changed by the time the certificate was issued.

“The findings of the HEC corroborated the information provided by NADRA,” a source familiar with the inquiry stated.

The Islamabad High Court upheld the HEC’s decision to cancel the equivalence of Zulfiqar Ahmed’s degrees. Following this, NADRA issued a show-cause notice to Ahmed, who failed to provide a satisfactory response.

Based on the high court’s decision and Ahmed’s inability to refute the allegations, NADRA’s chairman initiated disciplinary action, leading to his dismissal.

Yesterday, it was revealed that more than 71,000 Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) have been blocked by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) during the past five years.

The breakdown of the 71,459 CNICs blocked across Pakistan shows that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had the highest number, with 25,981 CNICs blocked, while Balochistan followed with 20,583, Express News reported.

Punjab saw 13,564 cards blocked, and Sindh had the lowest, with 9,677 cards affected.

Other regions also experienced blocked CNICs, including Islamabad (1,370), Gilgit-Baltistan (228), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (446).

NADRA's document further reveals that, after verification, 44,460 CNICs were unblocked, while the investigation for 13,618 blocked cards is still ongoing.

The government has also highlighted the importance of a legal review.

The Sindh government has formally requested an amendment to the Citizenship Act in light of the issues surrounding blocked IDs and the difficulties citizens face with the verification process.