ISLAMABAD, June 27: The government has brought in yet another trusted officer as a federal secretary, this time for the ministry of information and broadcasting.

Dr Nazir Saeed, a District Management Group (DMG) officer who earlier worked as secretary of the federal tax ombudsman, has been transferred to the information ministry led by Senator Parvez Rashid.

Dr Saeed has a long association with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He worked as staff officer with Mr Sharif when the latter was Chief Minister Punjab in 1988.

During the last Pakistan Muslim League-N government in Punjab led by Shahbaz Sharif, he served as a senior member of the board of revenue and as additional secretary information.

Dr Saeed is known for his politeness in the federal bureaucracy and is the brother of the incumbent secretary petroleum, Abid Saeed. He will replace Capt (retired) Agha Nadeem who has been directed to report to the establishment division. In the bureaucratic parlance, Capt Nadeem has been made an officer on special duty (OSD), meaning he has no assignment for the time being.

Dr Saeed will be the sixth federal secretary between 2007 and 2013 to have closely worked with the PML-N government.

Others include the current secretary prime minister Nasir Mehmood Khosa, who used to be chief secretary Punjab, and the press secretary of the premier Mohiuddin Wani who was earlier secretary information.

Similarly, secretary cabinet division Sami Saeed had worked as secretary services, health and industries in the Punjab government between 2007 and 2013, while secretary establishment division Shahid Rashid used to be a senior member of the board of revenue.

Similarly, the secretary climate change, Ali Gardezi, was transferred on Thursday and was given the charge of aviation division.

He would be replaced by additional secretary establishment division Raja Hassan Abbas.

Mr Gardezi would be working with the advisor to the prime minister on aviation, Capt (retired) Shujaat Azim, who has been given the task of putting the Pakistan International Airliner (PIA) back on track.

Although the government has changed a number of federal secretaries who worked with the previous government or the caretakers, few important ministries continue to be run by the officers appointed by them.

These include secretary finance Waqar Masood, secretary water & power Anwar Ahmad Khan, secretary planning commission Hassan Nawaz Tarar and secretary petroleum and natural resources Abid Saeed, who have not been replaced by the new PML-N government.

When asked, an aide to the prime minister said soon after the new government took charge, it had to present the federal budget, an exercise in which all the above ministries had a pivotal role to play.

“It was simply not possible to replace the secretary finance or the secretary planning commission, who had been involved in the preparation of the budget. Changes will be made after the budget is passed,” he said.