PESHAWAR, Aug 13: Speaker of the NWFP assembly Bakht Jahan Khan was sworn in as acting governor of the province at an impressive ceremony held at Governor’s House here on Wednesday.

Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Shakirullah Jan, administered the oath to the acting governor.

It was believed here in the provincial capital that the federal government had some reservations over the nomination of Mr. Khan.

NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, who left here for London via Dubai on a 10-day private tour on Tuesday, had not named anybody as acting governor in his absence.

Usually, in the absence of governor, speaker of the provincial assembly takes oath as acting governor. But, this time no one was appointed as acting governor till Tuesday evening.

JI provincial chief Senator Prof Mohammad Ibrahim was the first MMA leader who invited the Centre’s attention towards this issue. He urged the president to nominate the acting governor.