Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani: parliamentary probe into land allocation and financial mismanagement (from 2024 to 2025)
Basra governor Asaad al-Eidani, in office since 2017, has faced a separate set of findings from his predecessor's 2017 downfall (already in this encyclopedia). In February 2024 parliament formed a 13-member investigative committee (Order 87), chaired by MP Saud al-Saadi, to probe Basra local-government violations; reporting in late 2025 said it found roughly IQD 4.5tn in financial waste and violations, inflated contract amendments, disregard of Financial Oversight Bureau directives, and fraudulent bank-guarantee letters tied to a bank the committee said was linked to the governor's wife, Hadeel Abd al-Salem, and recommended referring Eidani to Baghdad's Integrity Court and moving to dismiss him. Separately, Eidani has been in dispute with Baghdad over about 9,000 informally settled 300-square-metre plots at Khor al-Zubair, originally allocated to state employees in the 1990s; Prime Minister Sudani ordered demolitions of new construction there halted in 2025, which Eidani said he was not bound to obey as an elected official. No court referral, arrest, charge or conviction of Eidani is on record.
- Period
- From February 2024 to November 2025
- Sector
- Local government and reconstructionGovernorate financial oversight
- Kind of case
- Parliamentary inquiry
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved, according to the sources
Alleged inflation of project costs via contract amendments and oversight-bypassing orders, and use of undocumented or fraudulent bank-guarantee letters via a bank linked to the governor's family; separately, a disputed programme of clearing land the governorate says was never legally transferred to its long-term occupants.
What happened
Ongoing; no court referral, arrest, charge or conviction of Eidani is on record; unclear whether parliament voted on dismissal.
Open questions
- Whether the Council of Representatives voted on dismissal; whether a court case actually opened; the exact relationship between the Khor al-Zubair land dispute and the Order-87 financial findings.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asaad al-Eidani (Asaad Abd al-Amir al-Eidani) أسعد عبد الأمير العيداني | Governor of Basra since 2017 | Accused by an official body | A parliamentary investigative committee (Order 87, formed 27 February 2024, chaired by MP Saud al-Saadi) accused him in reporting dated 2 November 2025 of roughly IQD 4.5tn in financial 'waste' and violations, inflated contract amendments, disregard of Financial Oversight Bureau directives, and fraudulent bank-guarantee letters tied to a bank the committee said was linked to his wife, and recommended referring him to Baghdad's Integrity Court and moving to dismiss him. No court referral, arrest, charge or conviction is on record. Separately in dispute with Baghdad over about 9,000 informally settled land plots at Khor al-Zubair (PM Sudani ordered demolitions halted in 2025; Eidani said he was not bound to obey as an elected official). | 28 September 2026 |
| Hadeel Abd al-Salem | Governor's wife; described as linked to Al-Ataa Bank | Accused in credible reporting | Parliament's investigative committee on Basra (formed by Order 87 in February 2024 and chaired by MP Saud al-Saadi) reportedly found fraudulent bank-guarantee letters tied to a bank it said was linked to her. The finding is known only from media reports of the committee's work; its recommendations concerned the governor, not her. No charge against her is on record. | 30 September 2026 |
Sources
- Rudaw21 May 2025Press reportTier D
Basra governor faces dismissal, court referral over land and contract violations
Originalviolations and other concerns related to suspected irregularities in various projects
- Alssaa2 November 2025Press reportTier D
أكبر من سرقة 'القرن'.. لجنة نيابية تتهم العيداني بهدر 4.5 تريليونات دينار (Bigger than the 'Theft of the Century': a parliamentary committee accuses Eidani of wasting IQD 4.5tn)
Originalالإضرار العمد بالمال العام (intentional damage to public funds)