KM Nurul Huda explained

Honorific Prefix:Khan Mohammad
Nurul Huda
Office:Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh
Predecessor:Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad
President:Abdul Hamid
Birth Place:Bauphal Upazila, Patuakhali
Nationality:Bangladeshi
Profession:Civil servant
Term Start:February 15, 2017
Term End:February 14, 2022
Relations:SM Shahjada, MP (Nephew)
Successor:Kazi Habibul Awal
Primeminister:Sheikh Hasina

Khan Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 1948) is a retired secretary of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and served as the Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh from 2017 to 2022. He was a freedom fighter during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He is a former chief executive officer of Dhaka City Corporation. He also served as joint secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and additional secretary to the Secretariat of Bangladeshi Parliament.[1] [2]

Early life and education

Khan Mohammad Nurul Huda was born in 1948 at Nowmala, Bauphal Upazila in Patuakhali district.

Huda completed his schooling in Patuakhali. He obtained his graduation and master's in Statistics from the University of Dhaka.

Huda also studied Public Administration and Advanced Studies at the University of Manchester, and pursued further studies in the then Soviet Union.[3]

Career

Huda took part in Bangladesh Liberation War from sector-9.

Huda is a Bangladesh Civil Service cadre of 1973's Freedom Fighter batch.[4] He served as the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Cumilla and Faridpur districts. In 2006 he was forced to retire from the public service during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamaat-led alliance government from 2001 to 2006 even before he became the secretary but a Supreme Court ruling gave him the status of secretary.[5]

Huda worked as the director, administration and human resources, for Gemcon Ltd. He also served as the chairman of North West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd, and the managing director of Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund.

President Abdul Hamid appointed Huda as the Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh on February 6, 2017. He took oath as the new CEC on February 15, 2017.[6]

While serving as the Chief Election Commissioner, Huda's nephew, SM Shahjada, was elected to parliament from Patuakhali-3 as an Awami League candidate in 2018 general elections.[7] [8] The Bangladesh Nationalist Party called for his resignation due to the conflict of interest.

In January 2022, Huda called his fellow Election Commissioner, Mahbub Talukdar, a "liar" after Talukdar criticized violence during elections.[9]

Notes and References

  1. News: KM Nurul Huda named Bangladesh's new chief election commissioner. bdnews24.com. 2017-02-21.
  2. News: President picks ex-bureaucrat KM Nurul Huda as next CEC . 2017-02-06. Dhaka Tribune. 2017-02-21. en-US.
  3. News: Ex-secy Nurul Huda new CEC. 2017-02-07. The Daily Star. 2017-02-22. en.
  4. News: CEC Huda: We will never compromise free and fair elections . 2017-02-07. Dhaka Tribune. 2017-02-21. en-US.
  5. News: President appoints ex-secy Nurul Huda next CEC. Prothom Alo. 2017-02-21.
  6. News: Key challenge is to hold fair polls: CEC. 2017-02-15. The Daily Star. 2017-02-21. en.
  7. Web site: S.M. Shahjada - এস এম শাহজাদা History. 2022-01-13. Amarmp. en.
  8. News: BNP demands removal of CEC Huda as nephew made AL nominee. 2022-01-13. Prothom Alo. en.
  9. News: 2022-01-06. Mahbub Talukder lies with an agenda: CEC Nurul Huda. 2022-01-13. The Daily Star. en.