Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Federal Board of Supreme Audit identified major delays in resolving corruption cases, failures to exercise key legal powers, and widespread financial violations across several government sectors in its 2025 annual report presented to Parliament on Tuesday.

The report, obtained by Shafaq News, found that the board missed the 120-day deadline for submitting its annual report and failed to fully use powers granted under Articles 14 and 15 of the Federal Board of Supreme Audit Law No. 31 of 2011. Those provisions authorize the board to request investigations by the Federal Commission of Integrity, pursue corrective action, and seek disciplinary measures against public employees. Among the examples cited was its failure to refer government contracts awarded without verifying bank guarantee letters.

In the defense sector, auditors found that the Ministry of Defense sold scrap metal through direct sales instead of public auctions, contrary to the Selling and Renting State Property Law. Scrap from the Taji and Balad sites sold for 200,000 Iraqi dinars ($152.73) per ton, compared with 630,000 dinars ($481.09) for similar material auctioned from the Officers’ Club.

The report also criticized the award of food ration supply contracts to a single private company, concluding that the arrangement breached Article 10 of Iraq’s Competition and Antitrust Law. Auditors further questioned bonuses paid to employees of the State Company for Food Trading from performance guarantee funds linked to the government’s food basket program, finding the payments inconsistent with public procurement rules.

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