Justice (retd) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui took oath on Friday as the 31st Governor of Sindh, two days after Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan was removed from his position.
Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Sajjad Ali Shah administered an oath to the new governor at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved Siddiqui’s appointment which was later notified by President Mamnoon Hussain. The decision and urgency for the change was reportedly made during a recent meeting between the president and the prime minister.
Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, who was recently engulfed in a controversy after Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Syed Mustafa Kamal hurled several accusations at him during a press conference in Karachi.
Kamal had alleged that Khan was in contact with and assisting Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founding Chief Altaf Hussain and leader Farooq Sattar. He went on to call the governor ‘rishwat-ul-Ibad’, alleging that Khan would never miss any chance of taking bribes in cases such as land grabbing.
The MQM, when not divided in three factions i.e. Pakistan, London and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), had asked Ebad to resign in May 2015, nearly three months after the Rangers raided party headquarters Nine Zero.
Ebad was regarded as a bridge between security establishment, Sindh and federal governments and the MQM, even though his tenure followed political controversies stemming from serious accusations.