Speaker Returns Audit Reports Citing Procedural Issues

ISLAMABAD: The Speaker of the National Assembly has sent back all yearly audit reports for the audit period of 2024-25, which encompasses fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), to the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP). This action was taken due to significant procedural breaches, amidst disputes regarding the substantial figures of reported financial irregularities within the documents.

A representative from the NA Secretariat informed that the reports were returned for two primary reasons: firstly, they were directly submitted to the NA Secretariat without being processed through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and secondly, the reports were released to the public before being formally presented before the parliament.

“This constitutes a disregard for the National Assembly,” the spokesperson stated, further noting that the AGP office was even pressuring NA officials to table the reports before the assembly, despite these identified violations.

Concurrently, the administration suspects that “an individual within the AGP office” is intentionally attempting to create problems by disseminating the contentious audit reports. These reports indicate an “unbelievable” amount of Rs375,000 billion in financial irregularities during FY2023-24.

This amount, which is 27 times the federal budget of Rs14.5 trillion and exceeds Pakistan’s GDP of Rs110 trillion by over three times, has prompted significant concerns about the dependability of the audit procedures. Former Auditor General Javed Jehangir described the figure as “anomalous” and in need of prompt reassessment.

“This staggering figure requires careful re-evaluation,” he stated, emphasizing that, during his tenure, audit reports were consistently presented in parliament before their public release.

In response to inquiries, the AGP office has asserted that it adhered to the established process by sending the reports to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, with copies directed to both the NA and Senate secretariats. “According to protocol, the required copies were sent to the appropriate authorities and duly acknowledged,” the AGP spokesperson clarified.

Regarding the inclusion of unprecedented irregularity figures in the executive summary, the spokesperson clarified that while a “consolidated audit report” was also prepared in the preceding year, this year, the specific amounts were explicitly stated alongside the categories of audit observations “for clarity”.

However, the spokesperson did not directly address the issue of why the reports were posted on the AGP’s website before being presented in parliament—a matter that has now become the central point of contention.