OGDCL acting MDs extension thru backdated notification

ISLAMABAD - The 'pitched battle between 'rivals for the appointment of Managing Director in Oil & Gas Development Company Limited has taken a new twist with the surfacing of the issuance of a backdated letter to grant extension to the Acting MD by a senior official of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to 'preserve the slot till a 'favourable candidate is placed in the saddle.
According to the details, a summary was forwarded to the Prime Minister by Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources in the last week of February seeking PMs approval for Shah Mehboob Alam to continue as Acting MD, OGDCL. The PM Secretariat, directing the Ministry to submit the recommendations for the appointment of permanent MD instead of acting MD, immediately rejected the summary.
The Acting MD Shah Mehboob Alam was given the current charge till February 19, after former MD OGDCL Zahid Hussain went on medical leave on January 5, 2010. Zahid Hussain resigned on February 20, amid numerous controversies appearing in the sections of media about his alleged involvement in financial kickbacks and misappropriation of funds.
Interestingly, the same letter or Office Order number 2(1)/2008-Gas that grants extension to acting MD with immediate effect and until further orders carries the date January 6, 2010, issued by Arif Ibrahim, who, on the date mentioned in the letter, was the Ministrys Joint Secretary Administration. What makes this affair grossly suspicious is the letters aforementioned date. The question remains unanswered as to why extension was given to the acting MD when the permanent MD had not resigned and he was supposed to resume his duties on February 20.
Highly placed sources within the Ministry told this correspondent that the letter was issued on March 8 but it was backdated to January 6 due to the reason that the Petroleum Minister wanted the current MD to continue till his blue-eyed candidate assumes the charge but Premier had turned down Ministers request to grant extension to his nominee.
This correspondent also ascertained through the official diary that keeps the record of all the official correspondence of the Petroleum Ministry that the letter in question was issued on March 8 but was backdated through forgery. Arif Ibrahim was no longer Joint Secretary Administration on the actual date (March 8) of issuance of the Office Order and held the position of Joint Secretary Development then, and holds the same position to date.
TheNation contacted its sources in two of the departments on the distribution list shown in the letter, and both confirmed that they neither received such a letter in January nor in March and the letter was sent to some selective parties.
Another source in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told this scribe that a summary regarding the appointment of permanent MD in OGDCL was sent to Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar who returned it back last week without any written correspondence because the summary lacked the name of Ministers nominee Najam Kamal Haider.
This correspondent tried to contact Secretary Petroleum Kamran Lashari for his comments to get his version about the backdated letter but his office informed that Lashari was on an official trip to Turkey.
Irfan Babar, Director Public Relations, OGDCL, when contacted, said that the issuance of the said letter was 'just a routine matter and nothing unusual. He said that the letter was a modification of a previous letter and such modifications were a common practice. He said that the Law Ministry vetted all the notifications and the Joint Secretary who issued the letter was a very responsible officer who knew his job very well. Babar added that MD Zahid Hussain resigned on February 20 and some files vanished from the Ministry as part of a 'deep rooted conspiracy. However, he refused to elaborate on this 'deep-rooted conspiracy and the nature of 'vanished files. This is no hidden affair, you people should write about real issues instead of digging trivialities he advised this correspondent. When insisted that the letter was backdated, and this journalists queries were aimed at establishing the logic behind issuing a backdated letter even before the MD had resigned, he asked this journalist to contact Ijaz Chaudhary, Additional Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry.
On the contrary, it was learnt from Asif-ur-Rehman PRO to Petroleum Minister that Ijaz Chaudhary was not the Ministrys Spokesperson. Asif said that he was not authorised to comment on any issue and confirmed that the Ministry was currently managing its affairs without any spokesperson.