These grassroots leaders also reject Mokran Ingkat, who was yesterday named by Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) election chief Bung Moktar Radin to contest the seat, saying the former has never served the area.

Taman Sri Gaya branch chief Safar Sastro, claiming to speak on behalf of 42 of the 45 Umno branch chiefs in Libaran, told a press conference in Sandakan today that they wanted Musa as their candidate.

“We want to win so we have no other choice than to pick Tan Sri Musa to contest here (Sungai Manila). If Umno wants to win then name him (Musa) as the candidate.

“If victory is what we want, there is no one else other than Musa, the leader that we adore,” he said, adding that their support was for BN.

“If Musa is not named as a candidate, we will still vote for him no matter which party he is representing or whether he stands as an independent.”

Bung, who is also Sabah Umno chief, left out Musa and other senior state party leaders said to be aligned with the former chief minister from his list of 31 candidates yesterday.

The Kinabatangan MP told the media that the party respected all leaders including Musa but that the latter did not ask to be a candidate for this election.