Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan told FMT he had spoken on the phone with Musa, who called to commend him for showing up at work this morning.
Jeffrey, who was appointed the agriculture and food industry minister by Musa on Thursday, had reported for duty at Wisma Pertanian earlier today.
Musa’s Cabinet, however, is disintegrating after two of his appointed ministers, Bolkiah Ismail (industrial development) and Masiung Banah (youth and sports) pledged their support to Parti Warisan Sabah president Shafie Apdal.
Shafie was sworn in as chief minister before the head of state, Juhar Mahiruddin, on Saturday after obtaining the majority in the house thanks to the defections of six BN assemblymen.
State palace officials had visited Musa’s residence in Luyang earlier today to deliver a letter notifying him that he is no longer chief minister of Sabah.
When asked on this latest development, Jeffrey said he did not know anything about it or what it meant for him and his fellow ministers.
“But Musa just called me a minute ago. He said it’s good what I did this morning, going to the ministry,” he said.
He added that Musa was presently deep in negotiations in Kuala Lumpur.
“He (Musa) said we should stand our ground. So, we are doing that,” he said.