ISLAMABAD: A row between Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Riaz Hussain Pirzada and the Prime Minister Office over the suspension of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general erupted on Friday when the minister requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to relieve him of his duty.

However, the prime minister has yet to take a decision in this regard.

Talking to media personnel, the IPC minister accused Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad of having been involved in corruption of billions of rupees. He claimed that Mr Fawad and Establishment Secretary Tahir Shahbaz were behind the suspension of the PSB director general.

“They think [principal and establishment secretaries] there is big funding in PSB; they wanted to appoint their man to embezzle funds,” Mr Pirzada said, adding that both bureaucrats were facing charges of corruption of billions of rupees, but talking about the corruption of the PSB director general.

It may be recalled that in November last year, PM Sharif’s son-in-law MNA retired Captain Mohammad Safdar had lashed out in the National Assembly at Mr Fawad for his alleged interference in the promotion of bureaucrats. He alleged that Mr Fawad was taking decisions about promotion of officers of grade 20 and above on the basis of his own liking.

Riaz Hussain Pirzada angry over suspension of PSB director general

The IPC minister, who also oversees the sports sector, has been expressing his reservations over the PM Office’s decision of suspending PSB Director General Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera for three months, without bringing the matter into his notice.

In his letter to PM Sharif, Mr Pirzada said: “A resignation at this point may be an embarrassment. Therefore, my humble request is to kindly relieve me of my duties as federal minister.”

He alleged that the PM’s principal secretary continued to interfere in the affairs of the IPC ministry. “This suggests either a lack of confidence in my abilities or a loss of faith and trust. This has not only distressed me but also clipped my powers…”

The minister regretted that despite repeated requests he had been denied a personal audience with the prime minister.

Although Mr Pirzada could not be contacted for his comments on his letter to the PM, sources close to him told Dawn that backdoor channels started working to arrange his meeting with the prime minister. They said some PML-N leaders were trying to persuade the IPC minister to review his decision.

The PSB director general was suspended the other day, but the reason for it has not been made public by the government. Even the notification about his suspension is silent about it.

Some officials of the IPC ministry said the PSB director general had been removed on corruption charges, while some think otherwise.

Talking to Dawn on Friday evening, Mr Pirzada said he had not yet received any charge sheet.

In a related development, IPC Joint Secretary Khyal Gul has been given the additional charge of PSB Director General.

On Thursday, the IPC minister postponed for November the Quaid-i-Azam inter-provincial games scheduled to be held from May 5 to 9. The minister also decided not to visit Baku to attend the official ceremony of the Islamic Solidarity Games scheduled to be held from May 12 to 22 in Azerbaijan.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017