Mohammad Zubair Umar | |
Office: | 29th Governor of Sindh |
President: | Mamnoon Hussain |
Term Start: | 2 February 2017 |
Term End: | 3 August 2018 |
Office1: | Chairman Privatization Commission of Pakistan (Minister of State) |
Term Start1: | 18 December 2013 |
Term End1: | 2 February 2017 |
Office2: | Chairman Board of Investment |
Term Start2: | 12 July 2013 |
Term End2: | 17 December 2013 |
Party: | Pakistan Muslim League (N) (2012-2024) |
Alma Mater: | Institute of Business Administration |
Relatives: | Asad Umar (brother) |
Education: | MBA |
Mohammad Zubair Umar (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|محمد زبیر عمر) is a Pakistani politician who served as 32nd Governor of Sindh from February 2017 to August 2018. Once a prominent leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), he served as the Chairman of Privatisation Commission of Pakistan with the status of State Minister from 2013 to 2017. Currently he serves as Chief Spokesperson to Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Safdar.[1]
Umar was born in Rawalpindi to Ghulam Umar.[2] Umar was raised in Rawalpindi then moved to Karachi for higher education, he belongs to a Punjabi community.[3] Zubair is elder brother to Mr. Asad Umar who was a prominent leader of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
He received his master's degree in business administration from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in 1981.[4] At IBA, he became the member of the Board of Directors in 1980 and taught Financial Management from 1981 to 1986. After completing his MBA, he joined IBM from 1981 until his resignation in 2007.[5]
Zubair Umar's father, Major General (retd) Ghulam Umar, was an army officer who was considered a close aide and served as first Advisor of National Security Council (NSC) created by the government of President Yahya Khan.[6]
Prior to joining politics, Umar hosted TV shows.
After joining PML-N in 2012, he became part of the PML-N's Economic, Tax Reforms Media Committees.[7]
Umar was chairman of the Pakistan Board of Investment from 12 July 2013 to 17 December 2013.
He served as Chairman of Privatisation Commission of Pakistan with the status of minister of state from December 2013 until February 2017.[8]
In January 2017, he was appointed as the 32nd Governor of Sindh.[9] [10] [11] He took the oath of office in February 2017.[12]
Following the 2018 Pakistani general election, he resigned from the office of Sindh Governor on 28 July 2018.[13] His resignation was accepted on 3 August 2018.[14]
He left the PML(N) on 9 June 2024. He explained that "the differences were too vast", citing examples such as the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, the performance of the first Shehbaz Sharif ministry, and the 2024 Pakistani general election.[15]
On 26 September 2021 sexually explicit videos were posted online by anonymous sources that allegedly show Umar with at least one unidentified woman in one of Islamabad's rest houses. The other woman was speculated to be Gharida Farooqi since the woman in the video was also wearing the same pajamas as Gharidah did on her live TV show.[16] Umar and his party (PMLN) leaders claimed the videos were doctored and fake, however, neither he or his party bothered to approach the courts against the videos, hence raising doubts on their own claims.[17] [18]