He said he had already sat down with Johan earlier this week and that it would not be proper for him to comment without listening to both sides first.

He said he met Johan on Monday and told him that he would discuss the issue with Sipaun. However, he had not had a chance to do so, even though Sipaun was one of the guests at the open house hosted by Shafie and his wife at Rumah Yayasan Sabah.

“But I am definitely going to sit down with him and discuss it,” he said, adding that the meeting will be held soon as he considers it a priority.

However, he refused to comment on the status of the IDS chief, saying: “What is important is if they can work together.”

Adding that IDS is a “backbone” of Sabah’s government outfits, he said it must be beefed up to ensure that it remains intact.

Sipaun, when met earlier, said the issue of the IDS CEO was not brought up with the chief minister today.

“But I am prepared to explain my side of the story and that the decision was made by the IDS board,” he said.

On Tuesday, FMT reported that the IDS board of directors had voted 6-5 against the motion to confirm Johan’s appointment as CEO.

Johan told FMT that he was following Shafie’s instruction to stay put but Sipaun insisted Johan was only under probation and that the decision to remove him was made by the board.