Top throne: Saeed Khan appointed OGRA chairman

Potential candidates with more relevant experience ignored.


Our Correspondent April 13, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has appointed Saeed Ahmad Khan, a retired bureaucrat, as the new chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).

Khan has worked as federal secretary in the Ministry of Information Technology, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and the Statistics Division. He has also worked as chairman of Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). He retired on April 4 after serving as executive director of National Institute of Population Study (NIPS).

However, Khan has no relevant experience of regulating the oil and gas sector.

According to an official of the petroleum ministry, Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain was not taken on board in the consultation process for appointing the Ogra chairman. However, in a letter written to the prime minister, Hussain suggested that the best professional should be selected.

Sources ay the Cabinet Division had sent three names to the prime minister for the new Ogra chief. Of the three, Naeem Malik, additional secretary of petroleum ministry with 34 years of experience in regulating the oil and gas industry, was said to be the most potential candidate.

For the past few months, Sabir Hussain had been running Ogra as acting chairman since the government sent former chairman Tauqeer Sadiq on forced leave due to allegations of corruption.

Later, the Supreme Court declared the appointment of Sadiq as illegal. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is currently investigating the irregularities allegedly done during the tenure of Sadiq.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2012.

 

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