USNO president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia today called for the Sabah administration to be overhauled from top to bottom following a blunder involving its legal representation.
Pandikar's outburst stemmed from the confusion over lawyer Tengku Fuad Ahmad had the authority to represent Sabah in the case of its claim to 40% of the state’s revenue.
Subsequently it was discovered that there was a letter from the Sabah attorney-general, dated June 8, 2022, appointing Fuad to represent the state government.
“The chief minister's explanation to the presidents of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah component parties on May 17, in Sri Gaya, that as far as he knew, Fuad was not appointed by the state government, was very shocking to me,” Pandikar said in Kota Kinabalu, today.
He said State Secretary Datuk Seri Saffar Untung must be held accountable for the oversight.
“To restore public confidence in the administration led by the Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, I appeal to the chief minister to overhaul the state administration from the State Secretary's Office to the district offices,” he said.
The appeal court reserved judgment and called for the case management of Putrajaya’s appeal against a High Court decision granting leave to the Sabah Law Society (SLS) to review Sabah's 40% claim to revenue derived from the state on May 24.
In court on Thursday, the last-minute entry of the state government as an “intervener” saw the state’s attorney-general’s lawyer Fuad question the locus standi of the SLS in the case. – May 20, 2024.
