Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak today said he never paid RM90 million to PAS or its president Abdul Hadi Awang.

He added that with Pakatan Harapan in power, it could easily check the accounts if any such money flowed to the Islamist party.

"I have never paid RM90 million to Hadi or PAS.

"It should be reminded the authorities under Harapan have conducted thorough investigations on my and Umno's accounts since the 14th general election, which has been almost nine months.

"If it is true there was any payment from me or Umno, the Harapan government would have surely taken the opportunity to freeze the PAS president's or his party's accounts," he said in a statement.

Najib's comment came a day after PAS revealed it had retracted its defamation suit against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown who had made the allegation.

Rewcastle-Brown yesterday hailed the out-of-court settlement as vindication, as she did not need to retract the article which PAS had sued her for.

The Sarawak Report editor, who first broke the story of the 1MDB scandal, claimed in the Aug 6, 2016 article that Najib was wooing PAS ahead of the general election, and that RM90 million had flowed into the accounts of its top leaders.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang then sued Rewcastle-Brown for libel in London on April 21, 2017 over the allegation that his party received RM90 million to ensure support for BN and Umno.

Najib claimed the allegation was libel.

"It is unfair for PAS to be continuously attacked and slandered on this issue," he said.