Hishammuddin had criticised the recent abduction of five Indonesian fishermen off Sabah and why the defence ministry had been slow to respond to Indonesia’s criticism of the incident.

Asked today to respond to this, Mohamad countered: “Ask him first to answer why the promised helicopters are still not delivered? Where are the promised submarines and ships?

“He must answer these questions first. I will not entertain his comments (on Sabah’s security) until he answers,” said Mohamad, who is also known as Mat Sabu.

“It appears he is nervous that someone else has taken over his old role in the ministry,” Mohamad told reporters while attending a party event for Amanah in Permatang Pauh here today.

Earlier this month, Hishammuddin had also taken Mohamad to task while speaking at a ceramah during the Kimanis by-election. He said the minister was not taking the security of Sabah’s waters seriously and was “clueless” about it.

Mohamad’s question about undelivered equipment was a reference to six corvettes, known as littoral combat ships, that have not yet been delivered to the Royal Malaysian Navy by the local manufacturer. The armed forces have also not received six helicopters bought for RM300 million.

Last October, Mohamad had told Parliament that the previous government had paid RM6 billion for the six ships, which were supposed to have been delivered by April 2018. The delay had also led to the late delivery of five other navy ships.

The six helicopters were supposed to have been delivered in two phases — two in July 2017 and four more by December 2018.

The defence ministry had referred the purchase of the helicopters to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in June last year.