Najib: I put PBS head in charge of migrant management

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak denied allegations BN was responsible for granting citizenship to unqualified individuals in Sabah, as alleged by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Maximus Ongkili.

To back his claim, Najib said his administration had in 2015 appointed then PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan as the head of the State Management Committee on Foreign Nationals.

“We were not involved in issuing identity cards (to unqualified people). We wanted to correct what happened in the past.

“That was why we appointed a PBS leader to resolve it.

“Our priority now is to secure our borders, improve security and continue development efforts. That is the BN agenda,” said Najib.

Najib was responding to Maximus’ speech during his party’s annual delegates meeting on Thursday, where the latter accused a “BN party” of being responsible for a citizenship-for-votes scheme.

Maximus is also cabinet minister in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs.

The committee headed by Joseph was established to implement recommendations by the Commission of Inquiry on immigrants in Sabah.

The commission was set up by Najib in 2012. Its findings was that corrupt government officials and criminal syndicates were responsible for issuing identity cards to unqualified individuals.

It is uncertain what was the outcome of the committee headed by Joseph, who is currently the PBS adviser.

According to the latest census, Sabah is the third-most populous state in the country and has the highest proportion of non-citizens (23.7 percent). - Mkini