Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh on Tuesday alleged that financial irregularities exceeding Rs908 billion have been uncovered in Sindh’s audit report for the 2024-25 fiscal year, calling the findings a serious indictment of the provincial government’s performance.
In a statement, Mr Sheikh contended that the report had completely exposed the 17-year rule of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the province.
The PTI leader claimed the audit highlighted suspicious contracts and excess payments amounting to Rs210 billion within the Local Government Department, accusing the ruling party of treating the department as a party fund and systematically misusing public resources.
Referring to the health department, he asserted that financial discrepancies worth Rs95 billion had been identified, including questionable procurement of medicines. Sheikh further maintained that corruption was being carried out through contracts in public hospitals, thereby depriving citizens of basic healthcare facilities.
In the Irrigation Department, audit objections of Rs 130 billion were reportedly raised, with Sheikh describing the practice of issuing full payments for incomplete schemes as a glaring example of maladministration.
He also alleged that Rs 75 billion worth of irregularities had surfaced in the Education Department, alongside the revelation of ghost schools. He pointed out that while 7.8 million children in Sindh are out of school, official records show billions of rupees as spent on development projects.
Similarly, the Works and Services Department was cited for serious financial irregularities of Rs 160 billion, which Sheikh said reflected widespread commission practices. An additional Rs120 billion in financial matters concerning the Energy Department and autonomous bodies were termed suspicious, with large-scale corruption alleged in the name of solar systems.
Sheikh questioned what the situation would be if a more comprehensive audit were conducted, noting that the Rs 908 billion in objections had emerged from an examination of only a few hundred audit units.
He stated that the people of Sindh are deprived of essential services such as water, health, and education, despite billions of rupees being reflected as expenditure in official records. Illegal payments, missing records, and non-recovery of dues were unacceptable, he added.
The PTI Sindh president demanded that proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee, which he noted is also headed by the PPP, be made public and that legal action be initiated against the responsible officers and ministers.
He announced that a white paper on the PPP’s 17-year performance would be issued soon and vowed that his party would seek accountability for every penny of taxpayers’ money.
Asserting that corruption and misgovernance had devastated the province, Sheikh said accountability had become imperative and that PTI Sindh would continue to raise its voice for the rights of the people at every forum.