Power Division has reportedly failed to retain the services of incumbent CEO, CCPA-G, Abid Latif Lodhi due to weak political leadership at the Ministry, well informed sources told Business Recorder.

Lodhi who is fighting Coronavirus and is in quarantine after testing positive, handles payments of billions of rupees to power sector entities but no one has raised a finger on his credibility, integrity and honesty.

The sources said, Power Division resubmitted the summary of appointment of Abid Latif Lodhi as CEO CPPA-G, as his summary was deferred by the Cabinet a few weeks back after some cabinet members raised objections to his credentials.

According to sources, when the summary was presented for consideration, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, who is also the Chairman of Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) and aspirant of Energy Ministry, objected saying that "his vision is myopic." Secretary to the Prime Minister, Azam Khan concurred after which the summary did not sail through.

Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub, who is also considered an honest man, but lacks political backing in the cabinet, preferred to remain silent instead of giving counter arguments to Asad Umar and Azam Khan.

CPPA-G is a public sector company limited by guarantee and is under administrative control of Power Division and presently functioning as the market operator in accordance with Rule-5 of the Nepra Market Operator (Registration, Standards and Procedure) Rule, 2015. The administrative matters including appointment of CEO, CPPA-G are governed under the Companies Act, 2017 and Public Sector Companies (Corporate Governance) Rules, 2013(CGR).

As per Rule 5(2) of the CGR, the Board shall evaluate the candidates based on the fit and proper criteria and the guidelines specified by the Commission for appointment to the position of the Chief Executive Officer and shall recommend at least three candidates to the government.

The Board of Directors of CPPA-G initiated the process of recruitment for the post of CEO, CPPA-G in pursuance of the Companies Act 2017 and CGR and advertised the post of CEO CPPA-G in the national dailies on May 5, 2018. A total of 21 candidates applied for the position.

The Board of Directors of CPPA-G after short-listing and interviewing the applicants recommended the following panel of three candidates in order of preference for consideration of the federal government for appointment as CEO CPPA-G;(i) Adid Latif Lodhi;(ii) Waqar Ahmed Khan and ;(iii) Mubashar Bashir.

Power Division, in its summary stated that after detailed deliberations and on the basis of profiles of the candidates in the panel Abid Lodhi may be appointed for the post of CEO CPPA-G for a period of three years with immediate effect.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that some of the power sector consultants, who did not qualify for the post of CEO contacted CPPA-G officials to get negative reports about Lodhi to pass on to cabinet members.