Ibrahim Nazeem has been appointed State Minister at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Fitness just one day after losing his job as Managing Director of the Road Development Corporation.
The Privatisation and Corporatisation Board confirmed on Wednesday that Nazeem was removed from both the managing director post and the RDC board. Temporary management of the company has been handed to retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Ahmed Saudi, who already serves as Managing Director of the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company.
The change follows the government’s decision, announced by President Mohamed Muizzu in early September, to dissolve RDC and transfer its road works to MTCC. Officials said the move aims to cut overlapping costs among state owned enterprises and streamline infrastructure projects. RDC was set up six years ago to handle road development across the atolls. It has faced financial pressures, including a recent Civil Court order to pay more than MVR 11.7 million to an Indian contractor.
A Familiar Face in Sports Administration
Nazeem is no stranger to the sports portfolio. He spent 17 years in various roles at the former Youth and Sports Ministry during the administration of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. He currently serves as vice president of Victory Sports Club and previously led the club between 2016 and 2018.
He also holds a place in local sports history as the first South Asian to become an international beach volleyball referee. After completing the international referee course in 1996, he officiated on the world tour.
His government career has moved between infrastructure and sports. He previously served as State Minister at the Construction Ministry and as Deputy Minister at the Housing Ministry. In mid 2025 he was appointed RDC managing director after earlier holding a state minister post in the same administration.
Context of the SOE Shake Up
The government has framed the RDC dissolution as part of a broader restructuring of state companies to reduce public spending. MTCC, which already handles many road and construction projects, will absorb RDC’s workload and a large share of its workforce. MTCC currently employs around 6,700 people, most of them on contract, and is expected to take on additional staff from the dissolving corporation.
Nazeem’s quick move into a state minister post at the Sports Ministry keeps him in a political role after the company he led is wound down. The ministry is headed by Abdulla Rafiu and already has several state and deputy ministers in place.
Nazeem returns to a sector where he has decades of experience, while the practical work of merging RDC into MTCC continues under temporary leadership.
