Kota Kinabalu: Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) Information Chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said a social media post implying that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had met Albert Tei to link him to a mining scandal in the State was clearly a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation.
He said as the Chief Executive of the State Government, Hajiji frequently meets with various stakeholders in his official capacity.
“Such meetings are official in nature and are attended by senior officers from the Chief Minister’s office. It is inappropriate to distort images or facts to create a negative perception,” he said, Friday.
According to Nizam, the individual behind the post, together with Albert Tei, clearly harboured malicious intent to associate the Chief Minister with the mining scandal through the misrepresentation of a photograph.
He stressed that the Chief Minister has never denied knowing or having met Albert, but the allegations being spread were an attempt to politicise a normal meeting and to create an untrue and irresponsible perception.
“The Chief Minister has been transparent and has called for a thorough investigation by the authorities. The State Government has also pledged its full cooperation with the ongoing investigation,” he said.
Nizam added that all accusations must be proven through due legal process, not through defamatory campaigns on social media.
He also referred to a report by a local news portal on Thursday, which quoted a source claiming that Albert had planned an “act” at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), believed to be linked to his corruption case, which was scheduled to be mentioned at the Kota Kinabalu Court Friday.
“It is clear that Albert himself played a central role in creating this drama of perception. He had planned his move earlier – entering Sabah under the pretext of meeting friends, even though he failed to produce the court summons he was supposed to have,” he said.
According to Nizam, Albert’s actions were part of a calculated ploy to sow confusion and to create the impression that he was being victimised.
“Albert deliberately fuelled a conspiracy theory, alleging political interference in the investigation against him in order to gain public sympathy.
“This is no longer the act of a victimised individual, but a coordinated perception operation aimed at diverting attention from his own case and investigation,” said Nizam.
