Lusilah Retni Lim, 23, was announced as the Banggi representative of the Kaamatan Festival beauty pageant, also known as ‘Unduk Ngadau’ (UN) on May 21.

However on May 25, Lusilah was told Erlasttini Ernie Bidi was the rightful winner instead, The New Straits Time said, quoting a report from a Kota Kinabalu daily.

Apart from both contestants being upset over who had the right to represent their district, they have been told by the state-level UN committee that Banggi will not be represented at all since the issue has not been resolved.

In a press conference arranged by Matunggong assemblyman Jelani Hamdan on Sunday, Lusilah, who was accompanied by her lawyer Mohd Syahirul Razi Mohd Jaini, demanded a proper explanation from the organiser as no formal explanation had been given thus far.

Erlasttini on the other hand, lodged a police report at the Penampang police station on May 26 over the matter.

Meanwhile UN state-level committee chairperson Joanna Kitingan has had a meeting with the event’s co-ordinator and the two women, although the emcee at the centre of the controversy was nowhere to be found.

“After listening to both sides, the real winner and the one whose name was announced, we asked if the real winner would give way to allow the other to be crowned UN’s Banggi representative – but she said ‘what about me? I am the real winner,” the NST reported Joanna as saying.

She also said that since no resolution could be reached, the committee had decided to disqualify Banggi’s UN participation altogether.

She blamed the UN district coordinators for taking things too “lightly”, and said things should have been handled professionally as it involved the contestants’ “honour and integrity”.

“My advice is that the district coordinators should behave responsibly when they are given (the task to organise). If you knew that the emcee was drunk, let the head judge read the results,” she added.