KINABATANGAN: Barisan Nasional retained its stronghold of Kinabatangan with Mohd Naim Kurniawan Moktar keeping the seat held by his late father Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin for nearly three decades.
Official results as at 8.30pm placed Naim as the winner for Kinabatangan after he garnered 19,852 votes with his closest rival, Warisan’s Datuk Saddi Abdu Rahman standing at 5,638 votes and independent Goldam Hamid with 946 votes.
Barisan also managed to retain the Lamag state seat through Mohd Ismail Ayob @ Miha, pulling it off with a comfortable majority of over 5,681 votes against his lone opponent, Warisan’s Mazliwati Abdul Malek who managed to pick up 1,588 votes.
At 10.10pm, Returning officer Eddy Syaizul Rizam Abdullah announced the results for Lamag while Kinabatangan’s official results were made at 10.55pm as the last ballot box from Tongod only arrived at the counting centre at 10.42pm.
Eddy Syaizul announced that Mohd Naim had secured 19,852 votes against Saddi's 5,638 votes to win the three-cornered contest for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat with a majority of 14,214 votes.
Independent candidate Goldam Hamid only managed to secure 946 votes while there were 369 rejected ballot papers.
The Election Commission said there was a turnout of about 55%, lower than the Nov 29, 2025, state election turnout of 65%.
For Kinabatangan, a total of 54.66% of the 48,722 registered voters turned up while Lamag, with 13, 899 registered voters, recorded a 64% turnout.
The Kinabatangan and Lamag by-elections were triggered following its incumbent’s death on Dec 5, 2025.
In the last state election, the late Bung Moktar won with a total of 153 majority against Miha, who contested as an independent in the six corner Lamag seat.
Barisan picked Miha to contest for the seat with the blessing of its Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and other partners.
In the 2022 General Election, Bung Moktar beat his sole opponent Mazliwati with a 4, 330 majority for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat.
