KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Musa Aman has denied allegations that he misused the state government's official aircraft for a personal trip to Dubai.
In a Facebook post on Monday (July 27), Musa said Dubai was only a refuelling stop en route to Cairo during an official mission to Egypt earlier this year.
He described the claims circulating on social media as baseless and misleading.
"The stopover in Dubai was merely a transit for aircraft refuelling before the onward journey to Cairo and was never the destination of the visit," Musa said.
Musa said the Egypt visit included engagements aimed at advancing the welfare and education of Sabah students.
He witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Sabah Islamic Religious Council and Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah, held discussions with Al-Azhar University and officiated the opening of the Al-Imam Al-Tayeb Hall.
He also attended a Majlis Mahabbah with about 350 Sabah students.
On his use of the aircraft to perform umrah in Makkah after completing the Egypt programme, Musa said the Yang di-Pertua Negeri was allowed to use it at the state government's discretion.
He said the same privilege had been extended to the previous Yang di-Pertua Negeri.
Musa said his official travels were undertaken as part of his constitutional responsibilities, including safeguarding Sabah's interests, strengthening international relations and looking after Sabahans overseas.
He regretted that the travel arrangements had been portrayed as a misuse of public funds, saying the allegations appeared intended to tarnish his reputation and draw the institution of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri into partisan politics.
He urged all parties to refrain from spreading false or misleading information and to uphold responsible public discourse.
