EC ordered NRD to give ICs, change immigrants’ names, RCI told

The then-Sabah EC director has been accused of ordering Sabah NRD to change the names of Indonesian and Filipino immigrants to increase the number of Muslim voters in Sabah. – File pic

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 16 – The Election Commission (EC) had instructed the National Registration Department (NRD) to change the names of 16,000 immigrants in Sabah and to give them identity cards, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants heard today.

Former Sabah NRD deputy director Mohd Nasir Sugip, who worked in Sabah NRD from 1992 to 1994, told the RCI today that the then-Sabah EC director, Datuk Wan Ahmad, had ordered Sabah NRD to change the names of Indonesian and Filipino immigrants to increase the number of Muslim voters in Sabah.

Wan Ahmad’s full name was not given.

“Ops Durian Buruk (Spoilt Durian) is an operation that involves changing and creating new names from the names given by SPR,” said Nasir at the RCI here today, referring to the EC by its Malay acronym.

“It means that the names were changed, IC numbers were changed, date of birth was changed...and their pictures,” he added.

Nasir said he was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) from 1995 to 1998 for giving identity cards to unqualified immigrants.

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