Saeed appointed permanent Ogra chief

ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday appointed Saeed Ahmed Khan, a retired bureaucrat, as permanent Chairman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).

According to a statement issued by Prime Minister’s House, former secretary Saeed Khan has been appointed as new Ogra chief. The Cabinet Division had moved a summary to the Prime Minister. It contained three names for new Ogra chief’s slot and the Prime Minister appointed Saeed Ahmad Khan as the new chief.

Saeed has previously worked as federal secretary in the Ministry of Information Technology, Overseas Pakistanis and Statistics Division and Chairman Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). He retired on April 4 as Executive Director (ED), National Institute of Population Study (NIPS).

According to sources in the regulatory body, the appointment of Saeed Ahmad Khan as Chairman Ogra may create another controversy as he is said to be a close aide of Prime Minister Gilani.

Additional Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Naeem Malik, a seasoned oil and gas industry professional, was expected to be nominated as chairman Ogra, but he was not considered for the job, a senior official of the Authority who requested anonymity, told Business Recorder.

According to sources, Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain had written a letter to the Prime Minister, requesting the latter to appoint the best professional as chairman Ogra.

Sabir Hussain had been holding the acting charge of Ogra chief for the last few months after the government sent the then Chairman of Ogra, Tauqeer Sadiq on forced leave over corruption allegations.

Later, the Supreme Court declared the appointment of Tauqeer Sadiq as illegal. Currently, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is investigating different scams that took place during Tauqeer Sadiq’s tenure.

At the time of selection of Sadiq, a few candidates having sound experience in oil and gas sectors had also appeared in interviews before the selection committee. These candidates included former secretary petroleum Ahmad Waqar, former acting chairman Ogra Rashid Farooq and former Managing Director (MD) HDIP.