SIMILAR to the 2020 Sabah election, the Inanam seat is again expected to see a 10-cornered fight with incumbent Datuk Peto Galim from PKR tipped to defend his seat.
Galim won the seat with a 5,638 majority after polling 8,586 votes in the last state election, with several other candidates losing their deposits.
This year, he is expected to face stiff competition from among others, two former assemblymen Datuk Dr Roland Chia and Datuk Kenny Chua.
Also expected to join the fray are the Majimbun siblings - Edna Majimbun and her brother Shone, who are the children of former Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun.
Roland, who previously held the seat under a PKR ticket, is expected to contest as an independent candidate while Kenny for Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR).
Roland held the seat from 2013 to 2018 while Kenny was a one-term assemblymen.
Edna will be contesting for Warisan while her businessman brother Shone as an independent candidate affiliated with Black Wave.
Black Wave is a movement of independent candidates planning to contest at least 10 state seats in the upcoming Sabah General election in a bid to challenge major political parties and is headed by Kudat MP Datuk Verdon Bahanda.
Other candidates expected to file nominations are Paul Anap as Parti Impian Sabah’s candidate and PKDM’s Datuk George Guntarik.
Former headmaster Martin Sibit is expected to contest as an independent while the People’s Aspiration Party is expected to field Cecily Wilfred Gismin.
Barisan Nasional (BN) is expected to field a candidate too.
In the previous state polls Peto defeated his closest challenger Datuk William Majimbo from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) who obtained 2,948 votes.
There are 45,551 registered voters in Inanam with 21,789 non-Muslim Bumiputera and 12,897 Chinese voters.
The others are Muslims Bumiputera and different ethnic groups. – October 29, 2025
