Erbil’s new governor starts duties as former officehoder bids farewell
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Erbil’s new governor Firsat Sofi officially took office on Tuesday during a ceremony attended by Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rabar Ahmed and the former governor of the province, Nawzad Hadi.
The ceremony came just a day after Sofi was sworn in as Erbil’s governor before the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani.
Sofi was elected last week after 27 members of the Erbil Provincial Council (EPC) out of 28 attendees voted for him in a session a day after Hadi stepped down.
During a press conference after Hadi officially handed over his duties to Sofi, Interior Minister Ahmad praised Hadi as a competent governor, adding that “Sofi came from the people,” and understands their demands.
Bidding farewell to a post he has held for 15 years, Hadi said he hoped Sofi would receive the support of locals as he performs his duties. For his part, Sofi vowed to provide the people of Erbil with more services and further develop the province.
The Chairman of the EPC, Ali Rashid, recently affirmed the new governor would “bring about changes to the province” in efforts to further develop the Kurdistan Region capital and attract more investment.
Sofi has a Ph.D. in Law and was a former lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament. In the past years, he has served in many other government and parliament-related posts, and previously taught as a lecturer at the Erbil Polytechnic University.
He was the only lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament to refuse his retirement pension after a debate erupted over controversial pension funds dedicated to retired members of parliament.
Since 2004, about 17,000 projects have been carried out in the province of Erbil, which includes 35 towns, districts, and sub-districts.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany