Pakistan appoints Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed as National Accountability Bureau chairman

The Pakistan government on Saturday appointed Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed as the new chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for three years, Dawn reported.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, the retired general's name was finalised "after detailed deliberation" between the Leader of the House and the opposition leader, as per the news report. Ahmad is a retired officer of Pakistan's armed forces, The News International reported.

The development comes after the previous NAB chairman Aftab Sultan resigned last month citing "interference" and "pressure." After four days, the NAB had appointed Zahir Shah as its acting chairman. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has called the appointment of the new NAB chief "controversial."

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Fawad Chaudhry stressed that the Lahore High Court had suspended the notification of the resignation of PTI MNAs, after which the party had appointed Shah Mahmood Qureshi as its opposition leader. He said that the consultation process was not carried out "legally."

He tweeted, "The process of appointing Chairman NAB is controversial, the court has suspended the notification of resignation of Tehreek-e-Insaf members and Tehreek-e-Insaf has nominated Shah Mahmood Qureshi as the leader of the opposition. The consultation process was not done legally."

Earlier in February, Aftab Sultan resigned from his position as NAB Chairman, Dawn reported. Sultan had cited "interference" and "pressure" from resigning from his post. However, did not elaborate on who was pressuring him. He served for eight months.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had claimed he was being coerced to file corruption references against their chief Imran Khan, Dawn reported. Soon after his resignation, Sultan held a farewell meeting with NAB officers. According to a press release issued by NAB, Sultan expressed satisfaction at upholding "his principles" and not bowing to any "pressure".

"I can neither initiate a false case nor drop an established reference merely because the culprit was related to some big shot," the press release quoted Sultan as saying, without mentioning any specific case. Aftab Sultan said that he tried to act as per the law and never compromised on his principles throughout his professional career. He stressed that continuity of the political process and elections were essential.

( With inputs from ANI )