LAHORE: Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar — a British citizen who is tipped to be appointed as the governor of Punjab — arrived from the United Kingdom here on Saturday.

A senior PML-N leader told Dawn that Mr Sarwar would meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday and the party might nominate him as Punjab governor.

After being appointed as governor, Mr Sarwar is likely to give up his British citizenship because a holder of dual-nationality cannot hold a public office in Pakistan under the law.

Talking to reporters at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Mr Sarwar said he wanted to serve the masses through politics. In reply to a question, he said:

“Whatever role in politics Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assigns me, I will accept.”

Answering a question about the investigation being carried out in the UK against MQM chief Altaf Hussain, he said the Scotland Yard could not be influenced by anyone.

PML-N leaders Zulifqar Khosa, Rafique Rajwana and Jaffar Iqbal, who had been lobbying for the coveted post, got disappointed over the leadership’s decision. “Yes they are disappointed, it is natural,” the PML-N leader said, adding that the leadership’s choice for the post of Punjab governor had surprised many in the party.

Mr Sharif had offered Mr Sarwar the office of Pakistan’s high commissioner to the UK, but he declined.

Belonging to Faisalabad district before settling in the UK, Mr Sarwar was elected as Labour MP for Glasgow Govan in 1997 and served till 2010.

According to a daily HeraldScotland, Mr Sarwar had turned the cash-and-carry business he started with his brother into a substantial business empire, making him worth an estimated £16 million. He also played a leading role in bringing the killers of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald in 2004 to justice after they fled to Pakistan, using his connections to help arrange their extradition, it said.