One of the candidates is former footballer Matusin Bowie, who will vie for the new state seat of Tulid in the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency.

Matusin was one of six Sabah footballers whose lifetime ban for alleged involvement in graft and match-fixing in the 1990s was overturned by the Football Association of Malaysia in 2017.

PBRS president Joseph Kurup said the party was given the trust by the BN leadership to contest in the constituencies of Matunggong, Tandek, Kadamaian, Sook and Tulid.

“This is an opportunity for PBRS to prove that we are one of the local parties that is accepted by all layers of the community,” he said in a statement today.

“All members are advised to work hard to ensure our candidates win.

“We must accept the decision of the leadership, which has made the best assessment from all aspects.”

The other candidates are Richard Kastum @ Mosinal (Matunggong), Yillson Yanggung (Tandek), Duanis Mogirong (Kadamaian) and Bonepes Been (Sook).

Earlier today, Sabah BN election machinery leader Bung Moktar Radin announced that Sabah Umno would contest 31 seats in the polls.

That means, together with PBRS’ seats, BN will be contesting at least 36 of the 73 seats up for grabs.

Sabah MCA is expected to issue a statement on the seat allocation today as well.