ISLAMABAD: The Power Division has directed the Board of Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL) to terminate Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sabeeh Uz Zaman Faruqui with immediate effect.
Last week the NPGCL Board, while flouting the directives of the Prime Minister had reinstated the CEO without taking the administrative Ministry (Power Division) on board.
Well-informed sources told Business Recorder, Power Division has referred to its letter of January 3, 2025 and the response provided by the Chairman, Board of Directors), NPGCL in letter of January 7, 2025 and issued new instructions.
According to Power Division, upon examination of the response submitted by NPGCL, it has been observed that no cogent or substantive reasoning has been provided to address the concerns raised by the Power Division in the letter.
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Power Division, in its new letter, reiterated that the decision to reinstate Sabeeh Uz Zaman Faruqui as Chief Executive Officer, NPGCL, was taken without the presence or input of the Power Division’s nominee in the Board meeting, which is a serious procedural lapse.
Furthermore, no evidence or justification has been presented to substantiate Faruqui’s performance during his tenure. On the contrary, the operational and financial condition of NPGCL has significantly deteriorated under his leadership.
“No notable measures appear to have been taken by him for the disposal of the defunct plants declared non-operational in 2020, which is a critical governance failure,” Power Division said adding that in light of the circumstances, the NGC Board has been advised to “immediately rescind/withdraw the reinstatement orders of Sabeeh Uz Zaman Faruqui as CEO NPGCL ab initio and Board must review his performance regarding key issues including but not limited to governance structure and financial position of the company.”
Power Division further directed the NPGCL Board to convene meeting once the Power Division’s nominee is in place and a compliance report in this regard must be submitted with immediate effect. On December 20, 2024, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of three power Generation Companies (Gencos) were suspended after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s expressed anger against the officials who created hurdles in disposal of dead assets of Gencos.
The three CEOs who were suspended were: (i) Abdul Vakeel, CEO, JPCL (Genco-1); (ii) Junaid Ahmed Baig (Genco-ii); and (iii) Sabeeh Uz Zaman Faruqui (Genco-iii). In mid-December while presiding over a high level meeting on IGCEP, Prime Minister had directed Minister Power Awais Khan Leghari to suspend the officials involved in delaying the disposal of dead assets of all redundant GENCOs and absorption/retirement of HR as per already issued directions of the Prime Minister.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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