ISLAMABAD: A serious row has erupted between the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) and the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat over 2024-25 year’s federal audit reports, with the outgoing AGP rejecting allegations of errors and misreporting even as the Speaker stands firm on sending the documents back for violations.
Responding to The News report which quoted NA spokesman over returning the audit reports, the AGP rejected any “miscalculation” of figures as well as the NA view that the reports were returned.
The controversy began last month when the Speaker returned all annual audit reports for audit year 2024–25, covering fiscal year 2023–24, to the AGP office. The NA Secretariat cited two breaches: the reports were dispatched directly to it without routing through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and they were uploaded online before being formally presented in Parliament. Calling it a “contempt of the House,” NA spokesman had told The News.
In a clarification issued Monday, however, the Department of the Auditor-General of Pakistan (DAGP) dismissed the allegations as “entirely unfounded and misleading.” The office said the audit reports and financial statements for FY 2023–24 had been submitted to the President through the Prime Minister in line with Articles 168 to 171 of the Constitution. The President, it added, approved the submission on April 12, 2025, after which the reports were transmitted to both the Houses of Parliament.
The AGP said the reports had been placed on the NA’s agenda for August 13, but could not be laid as the session was prorogued the same day. The Secretariat, it added, directed the documents be collected and kept confidential until presentation. Reports sent to the Senate, it clarified, remain in the Senate Secretariat’s custody.
On the staggering figures, the AGP office insisted that no miscalculations were involved. It explained that the amounts appeared in the executive summary of the consolidated audit report, which is a reference document to facilitate stakeholders in reviewing sector-wise findings. The audit reports were prepared after proper quality assurance and contained no errors, the clarification stated.
Still, the AGP’s defence does not directly tackle the core issue raised by the NA that the reports were made public through the department’s website before being presented in Parliament. That breach, according to the NA Secretariat, was a key reason for sending them back.
What initially had fueled the controversy over audit reports, was the mention of Rs375,000 billion worth of financial irregularities in the consolidated audit report - an amount 27 times greater than the federal budget of Rs14.5 trillion and more than three times the country’s GDP of Rs110 trillion. The government sources suspect that “someone inside the AGP office” is deliberately attempting to embarrass it through “unusual figures and activism.” Former Auditor General Javed Jehangir also described the number as “abnormal” and in need of urgent review, noting that during his tenure audit reports were never made public before presentation in Parliament.
The incumbent Auditor General is completing his tenure within a week time. The arrival of new AGP, already notified, is expected to decide the fate of these reports.