ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The federal government has decided to appoint senior PML-N leader Nihal Hashmi as the governor of Sindh.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who nominated Hashmi as the governor, replacing Kamran Tessori, met with him and congratulated him on his appointment. The premier has sent the summary to the president for approval.
Tessori was removed after several leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have demanded his replacement, especially after the Gul Plaza inferno. However, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the party he belongs to, has so far refrained from giving an immediate response.
The news of Tessori’s removal has been circulating on social media for a few days.
According to a statement released from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Shehbaz met Hashmi at PM House on Tuesday and decided to nominate him as the governor of Sindh.
نہال ہاشمی کو گورنر سندھ تعینات کرنے کا فیصلہ وزیراعظم شہباز شریف نے سمری منظوری کے لئے صدر پاکستان کو بھجوا دی. وزیر اعظم کی نہال ہاشمی سے ملاقات اور گورنر سندھ تعیناتی پر مبارکباد.@CMShehbaz pic.twitter.com/3XNxZx0AIi
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) March 12, 2026Hashmi is a lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Senate of Pakistan from March 2015 to February 2018. From 1997 to 1999, he served as the advisor to the prime minister on law, justice, and human rights under Nawaz Sharif.
In 2012, he served as the president of the PML-N in Karachi. In August 2014, he was appointed general secretary of the PML-N Sindh chapter.
He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan from Punjab on a general seat as a PML-N candidate in 2015.
In June 2017, he withdrew his resignation from the Senate after meeting the chairman. On February 1, 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan convicted Hashmi in a contempt of court case, sentencing him to one month in prison and barring him from holding public office for five years.
He was expelled from the party in 2017 but later reintegrated into the PML-N fold, with his membership restored in 2021.