Ready for inquiry into allegations: Pedo CEO

PESHAWAR: The Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (Pedo) chief executive officer Akbar Ayub said he has asked the provincial government to hold an inquiry into the issues raised by the former chairman and a member of Pedo’s board of directors.

“I have requested the secretary of energy department to order an inquiry into the allegations that payment was made to the contractor of the Lawi project or due process wasn’t followed for paying an additional amount of Rs700 million to the contractor of the Ranolia power project,” Akbar Ayub added.

He insisted no payment has been made to the contractor of the Lawi project as the contract has yet to be signed. Besides, he said all approvals from the relevant authorities were obtained for the Ranolia power project. Pointing out that both Ranolia and Machai projects were initiated much before he took over as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pedo, Akbar Ayub said cost overruns and additional allocation of funds for such projects isn’t unusual.

“I am not blocking any inquiry. I will fight it out and clear my name as I joined Pedo to serve my province. This is the first time I am working with the government and I know such controversies are part of the package,” he remarked.

The 41-year old Akbar Ayub said he isn’t accustomed to such kind of criticism after having served in the private sector for 18 years. In particular, he said it was painful to be accused of corruption by Shahid Sattar, member of the Pedo board of directors. “I am a professional and cannot even think of indulging in corruption,” he stressed.

He recalled that Shahid Sattar wanted a paid job as commercial director in Pedo and the board of directors’ chairman Shakil Durrani had put in a word for him.  “I was told Shahid Sattar will resign from the board of directors to become commercial director, but I replied that we have no such vacancy,” Akbar Ayub added. 

He also expressed his readiness for an inquiry into the delay in building the transmission lines for the Ranolia and Machai projects, which were completed in July 2015 and are not yet operational. “The fact remains that the transmission lines have to be built by the NTDC and Pesco that are federal entities and not by Pedo. Still we knocked every door, did correspondence and held meetings with all concerned including federal secretary water and power and NTDC and Pesco authorities to expedite construction of the transmission lines. Our chief minister also raised the issue with federal minister for water and power,” Akbar Ayub explained.

He reminded that elders from Kohistan district also raised objection over the transmission lines from Ranolia project passing through their lands and even petitioned the court about it. When asked about Shakil Durrani’s allegation that the requirement of an engineering degree was dropped to pave the way for him to be appointed as CEO Pedo on PTI leader Asad Umar’s recommendation, Akbar Ayub maintained that the advertisement for the job didn’t mention an engineering degree when he applied for it. “I told the selection board that I am not an engineer, but am certainly a management specialist and a strategy and finance person. I feel a non-engineer is better for such a job. By the way, the present Wapda chairman Zafar Mahmood and previous chairman Shakil Durrani also aren’t engineers,” he replied.

Denying that Asad Umar got him appointed as CEO Pedo because they served together in Engro Corporation, Akbar Ayub said he was very junior to Asad Umar and had never really worked with him. “Asad Umar along with others had a role in selecting the Pedo’s board of directors. I was selected by the board of directors when its chairman was Tariq Iqbal Khan. I was on top among the three shortlisted candidates who included Javed Hashmat and Bahadur Shah,” he explained.

Regarding complaints about his high salary of Rs1.4 million per month as head of an organization that had 225 employees only, he recalled having demanded Rs2 million as he had served on important and highly paid positions in Pakistan and abroad in Japan, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, etc and was joining Pedo at a time when the provincial government wanted to run it in corporate-style.

He argued that Shakil Durrani had worked all his life in the public sector and was finding it difficult to adjust to the demands of the corporate sector. “I wanted to delink Pedo from the public sector and he was resisting this,” he claimed.

Contesting the allegation that Pedo is an incompetent and dysfunctional organization in the hands of the highly paid management hired at unusually high salaries from the private sector, Akbar Ayub countered that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would not trust and support Pedo projects if it was inefficient.