There should be no “dilly-dally” on the auditing of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as failure to investigate will exemplify dereliction of duty, DAP told Auditor-General Ambrin Buang today.

In making the call, DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang also questioned the inaction of the auditor-general on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, despite the cabinet giving the green light six days ago for the state investment fund’s accounts to be audited.

“There should be no dilly-dally by the auditor-general, who should immediately swing into action to audit the 1MDB accounts, whether he receives written instructions from the Prime Minister (Najib Abdul Razak) or not,” Lim said in a statement yesterday.

The Prime Minister's office (PMO) a statement after last Wednesday’s cabinet meeting said: “As a further step, the prime minister informed the cabinet that he has instructed the auditor-general to independently verify 1MDB's accounts.”

Saying that Ambrin's delay in investigating the nation's biggest financial scandal is negligence of duty, Lim asked whether Ambrin was waiting for written instructions from the prime minister.

“From the PMO statement, the auditor-general should have received written instructions from the prime minister before the cabinet meeting last Wednesday to vet the 1MDB accounts, unless the PMO was not stating the truth!

“Or are we having a replay of what happened with regard to the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah (RCIIS), where it was publicly announced that a working committee for follow-up on the report had been established.

“Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who was announced as chairperson of the RCIIS working committee, did not receive his letter of appointment until some two months later,” Lim said, and asked whether Ambrin would have to wait, like Joseph did, for Najib's instruction to verify the 1MDB accounts

“The same applies to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

“Is the PAC chairperson Nur Jazlan Mohamad going to listen to the prime minister, who wants PAC to wait for the auditor-general's audit on 1MDB, or to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who wants the PAC to investigate the 1MDB accounts immediately?” he asked.

Lim added that this audit would be Ambrin's “most challenging and onerous task” as auditor-general as he would be auditing the prime minister-cum-finance minister as well.

This, he added, was a potent reason why Najib should immediately relinquish his portfolio as minister of finance, so that there would be no conflict of interest in the 1MDB scandal.