Govt officially notifies Lt-General (r) Nazir Ahmad as new NAB chairman

ISLAMABAD – The federal government has notified Lt-General (retd) Nazir Ahmad as the next chief of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The notification comes after top civil officials approved the summary to appoint the head of the country’s anti-graft watchdog.

The notification issued by Ministry for Law and Justice confirmed Nazir Ahmad’s appointment as NAB chairman for a period of three years.

Over the weekend, the federal government picked Nazir Ahmad for the coveted post, weeks after ex-NAB chairman Aftab Sultan stepped down last month, citing interference.

Who is Lt. Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt?

Nazir Ahmad Butt was commissioned into Pakistan Army in 1983 and served at many coveted posts till 2018 when he resigned from the armed forces.

Gen (r) Nazir was commissioned in Frontier Force Regiment and served for more than three decades in the Pakistan Army. He graduated from the Command and Staff College and the National Defence University.

During his service, he was posted as Peshawar Corps Commander and remained a commander of Pakistan Military Academy Kakul.

He also served as President of the National Defence University in 2016 and deployed as military secretary to former prime ministers Yusuf Raza Gilani, and Shaukat Aziz before his posting as Pakistan’s military attaché to the United States.

The recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz also commanded an infantry division in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), neighboring Afghanistan.

Butt was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, four years before his retirement, in 2014 and was appointed as inspector general of Communications and Information Technology at the General Headquarters.

Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed appointed new NAB chairman

The former general also served as commander of a military formation in South Waziristan as a major general. The decorated ex-official of the armed forces belongs to the Kashmiri community and has good command over the Kashmiri language. His father also served Pakistan Army and retired as a colonel.