Centre gives Gandapur officer of his choice: Shahab Ali Shah named KP chief secretary

PESHAWAR: The federal government finally accepted the recommendation of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and posted Shahab Ali Shah as the chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.

The federal government issued a notification saying Shahab Ali Shah, a BS-21 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, presently posted in Balochistan, was being transferred and posted as chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, under Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973, with an immediate effect and until further orders.

Shahab Ali Shah was the first choice of Gandapur when he took over the government last year.

The chief minister had long been working to have two top officials, i.e. the inspector general of police and chief secretary, of his choice in the province.

Sources close to Gandapur told The News that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had agreed in the very first meeting to give him the officers of his choice. But it did not happen as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf then launched its protest against the federal government to get the party’s founding chairman Imran Khan freed from jail.

Gandapur personally led protest marches on Islamabad that damaged his ties with the prime minister.

Shahab Ali Shah has replaced Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry as chief secretary who was posted during the caretaker government of the late Mohammad Azam Khan.

Since he had served as secretary in the education department earlier in KP, Chaudhry knew many government officials and politicians and their credibility.

Gandapur’s first summary which he had sent to the federal government demanding chief secretary of his choice was returned as it carried only one name i.e. Shahab Ali Shah.

He then sent another summary to the federal government carrying the names of three senior civil servants, including Shahab Ali Shah, Dr Shahzad Bangash and Munir Azam Khan.

Munir Azam recently retired from service and was appointed as chairman of the Public Service Commission, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

When Gandapur realised that he would not get the chief secretary of his choice, he proposed another senior officer, Shakil Qadir Khan, who is currently serving as the chief secretary of Balochistan. The federal government agreed to transfer Shakil Qadir Khan to KP but Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti reportedly refused to relieve him.

And then Gandapur and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi agreed to work together and resolve the issue.

The official claimed the chief minister facilitated the federal government in appointing Zulfiqar Hameed as the KP police chief and, in return, Gandapur got Shahab Ali Shah as chief secretary.