Pakistan appoints retired army officer as chief of anti-corruption watchdog

Pakistan on Saturday appointed a retired army officer as the head of the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, according to a notification issued by the law ministry.

The development comes days after the former chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Aftab Sultan, resigned after he was asked to do “certain things” by the federal government that were "unacceptable to him.” Former Pakistan Army corps commander Lt. Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt was appointed the NAB chairman after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition leader in the National Assembly Raja Riaz held consultations on Saturday.

Lt Gen (retd) Butt, who is from 67th PMA Long Course, has served as the Peshawar Corps Commander, according to The Express Tribune newspaper.

Prior to his assignment at the 11 Corps Command, he was President National Defence University Islamabad.

Gen (retd) Butt had also commanded a division in South Waziristan as Major General, the report said.

The Ministry of Law and Justice issued the notification after his name was approved by the cabinet.

The NAB chairman, according to the law ministry, shall hold office for a “non-extendable term of three years” and will not be eligible for subsequent appointment.

Sultan resigned on February 21 after he reportedly refused to "toe the line" of the Sharif government after he was apparently asked to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders, including its chief Imran Khan, by the federal government officials.

NAB is an autonomous and constitutionally established federal institution responsible to build efforts against corruption and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments against economic terrorism for the Pakistan government.