PESHAWAR: Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) Board of Directors (BoD) Chairman Sahibzada Saeed Ahmed and BoD Private Sector Member Nauman Wazir have stated that the hiring of PEDO CEO in 2015 was purely on merit and Akbar Ayub Khan was ranked at the top after final assessments. They further clarified that the current spate of baseless and irresponsible allegations by certain elements in PEDO regarding the appointment of the CEO are forcefully rejected as a very rigorous hiring process was followed in his selection. They stated that only preliminary scores of shortlisting are being shown in the media; misleading people and creating a wrong impression. The Chairman Board who was Secretary Energy at the time of appointment as CEO added that subsequent to initial short listing, two stages of interviews were carried out by the HR Committee of the Board and the entire BOD respectively. At the end of the process, Akbar Ayub Khan was selected as the best candidate for the position of CEO and there is no question of him being offered the CEO position out of turn. Sahibzada Saeed and Senator Nauman Wazir strongly refuted the ‘baseless allegations’ of political interference in the hiring process and said such reports in the media were based on mala fide. Both the members stated that Akbar Ayub Khan applied based on the advertisement and he completely fulfilled the criteria, hence no wrong was committed. They further said that the Board and GoKP would exercise all legal remedies available to fight his case to ensure his continuity as CEO. They added that Ayub turned around PEDO in the last 2.5 years and the Board has been very pleased with his performance. The amount of work done and projects initiated during his tenure are unprecedented and the entire Board fully supports the CEO in his efforts to further strengthen the organization. PEDO implemented only 105 MW in the last 30 years since its inception whereas in the last 2.5 years alone, projects of more than 2,500 MW have been initiated and another 2,700 MW were identified and are being reviewed for development. “Ujaloon Ka Safar” the micro Hydel program is another flagship project which began within this period and is being implemented on a fast track basis with 193 completed out of 356. It is being enhanced to 1,000, benefiting 1.0+ million people. The Chairman mentioned that the Board has shown concern that certain elements in PEDO and in particular the union, do not want the organization to progress and operate on modern corporate lines as they are used to old, inefficient methods and procedures. Moreover, the current CEO and his private sector team are honest and upright. This is reportedly dislikedby quite a few in the organization and hence the resistance towards him. The Board has resolved that it would leave no stone unturned in transforming PEDO into a modern corporate sector organization under the leadership of current CEO Akbar Ayub Khan and would not tolerate any resistance in this regard. Published in Daily Times, June 23rd, 2017.