Sabah think tank CEO was not sacked, explains chairman

A file picture Datuk Dr Johan Arriffin Samad (left) receiving his letter of appointment from IDS Chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun in November last year.

KOTA KINABALU: The simmering tension between two top officials of the Sabah govern­ment’s think tank is believed to have resulted in the sacking of Institute for Deve­lopment Studies (IDS) chief executive officer Datuk Dr Johan Ariffin Samad.

However, its chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, whose relations with Johan had been reportedly testy, played things down by saying that the IDS board had only decided not to confirm him as CEO at the end of his probation on May 31.