Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie Apdal said that a friendship cannot take precedence over matters that put the nation's future at stake.

Shafie's response came after BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak today said that Shafie had stabbed him in the back with his decision to quit Umno.

“I advised him to discuss the matter with (Sabah caretaker chief minister) Musa (Aman) but he did not listen to my advice.

“I was disappointed that under certain circumstances he stabbed me in the back [...] it is painful when a close friend does that to you,” Najib was quoted as saying by Bernama during an event in Semporna today.

Shafie, however, said it was his style to “take the bull by the horns” when confronting crucial issues.

Citing the 1MDB issue, Shafie said he had questioned Najib on the matter many times “face to face”.

“So to now accuse me of stabbing him in the back is simply ridiculous and an accusation that holds no water,” Shafie said in a statement.

The incumbent Semporna MP claimed he had a “four-eyed meeting” with Najib at the latter's house and had advised him to “take the right and necessary action” even before the 1MDB scandal erupted.

“I told him that the 1MDB scandal would not only come back to haunt him and Umno but also the nation at large. And look, now the whole world is talking about it.

“And when he didn’t listen to my advice, I raised it again at cabinet meetings, not once, but on several occasions while all the other ministers kept quiet. Eventually (former deputy premier) Muhyiddin (Yassin) joined in to tell Najib that 1MDB was going in the wrong direction.

'Worst parasites'

“It was told straight to his face so to now accuse me of backstabbing him is just ridiculous. He is like a drowning man clutching at straws, and even then, making baseless accusations against me is not going to solve the 1MDB debacle that will destroy the nation if Najib is not toppled (through the ballot box),” said Shafie (above).

Agreeing that Najib was once his friend and mentor, Shafie said he had supported Najib on other occasions when the policies were good for the people and country.

“But friend or not, I cannot keep quiet when the nation and party are exposed to ridicule and infamy,” Shafie added.

He said that he would not hesitate to censure anyone whom he felt was not doing the right thing and described apple-polishers as “the worst parasites a nation could have”.

On the claim he did not heed the advice to work with Musa, Shafie said it was “amusing” to see Musa “whispering the wrong things in Najib's ears”.

“Musa should by right be demanding that the issues over the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) be resolved immediately instead of bad-mouthing me. I am no longer in Umno.

“Perhaps now that I am heading Warisan, Musa sees me as a bigger threat to him and what more, Umno’s very survival in the state,” said Shafie.

As to Najib's contention that Umno-BN will oust Shafie in Semporna, the latter reminded Najib how he himself was almost booted out in Pekan by disgruntled Umno members during a previous election.

“As for me, I have done my best for the people of Semporna and they know what I have done. My fate (in the 14th general election) is in their hands and I have no fear of them betraying me,” said Shafie.