KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak today revealed what caused the bad blood between him and his former Cabinet colleague Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, leading to the latter’s damning testimony against him previously.
The former prime minister tore into Husni’s testimony that he (Husni) was treated like an ‘office boy’ in the Ministry of Finance (MoF) during Najib’s administration.
In a tongue in cheek response, Najib quipped that Husni, who was formerly Finance Minister II (MoF II), must have been “a very happy office boy” because the latter wanted very much to remain in the ministry even after he was transferred out.
Najib, who was testifying under oath for the second day running in the SRC International trial where he is accused of misappropriating RM42 million of the company funds, touched on his relationship with Husni when he was asked to explain about the latter’s testimony.
His lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed asked him about his so-called directive ordering Husni to stay out of SRC International Bhd affairs.
Najib, however, denied issuing such a directive and said there were many documents which showed Husni was kept in loop and in fact also approved several important memorandums concerning SRC when he was MoF II.
“His accusation that he was treated like an office boy is absurd… his signatures on the memorandums is prove of it.
“Husni was also present in the Cabinet meeting on Feb 8, 2012 when the second government guarantee for SRC’s loan from the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) was approved. He did not utter a single word then”, he said.
Najib said it did not make sense for Husni to reduce himself to an office boy in such a a situation.
“If anything, it was he who failed to fulfil his responsibilities if he knew SRC International needed to be closely monitored, but he never did anything about it.”
On Husni’s claims that he was prevented from going to Switzerland to help sort out things when SRC International funds were frozen by authorities there, Najib said this had been taken out of context.
He said Husni had raised the matter informally by asking if he could go to Switzerland to help sort things out.
“He said he knew some people there who may be able to help.
“However I told him it was unnecessary as SRC International was already working on resolving the problem.”
Najib said it was Husni who eventually approved another short term loan for SRC International to resolve their problems with the Swiss authorities.
This, he said, happened on Nov 4, 2015.
Najib said he believed Husni’s testimony as a prosecution witness was aimed at tarnishing his image and also to take revenge against him.
Asked why Husni wanted to do so, Najib said he believed this was because the former had been transferred out of MoF to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
He said Husni subsequently resigned not long after that in 2016.
“That is why he used the witness stand as a stage to voice his grouses against me openly.
“There are other incidents which happened but I don’t intend to expose all that here. All these things have caused him to have deep, vengeful feelings against me.”
Husni had previously testified that he was reduced to being an office boy in the ministry and was told off by Najib whenever he tried to enquire about 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and SRC International.
The former Umno treasurer also described Najib as an autocratic leader who had blocked attempts to get money which had been frozen by the Swiss authorities to be brought back to Malaysia.