Suriani Ahmad, a former deputy secretary-general of the home ministry, admitted this when cross-examined by Zahid’s lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh.
She said Najib, who was then prime minister, sent a letter to Zahid, who was the home minister, on the continuation of the project.
Hamidi: Whose directive was minuted (written) in the letter?
Suriani: The prime minister’s (Najib).
Hamidi: What was minuted in January 2014?
Suriani: YB Datuk Sri Zahid, please assist in this matter. The contract should be continued.
Hamidi: Is this (instruction) from the prime minister to his then deputy?
Suriani: Yes.
The fourth prosecution witness also agreed with Hamidi that she had to carry out the directive from her immediate boss, Alwi Ibrahim, who was then the ministry’s secretary-general.
Re-examined by deputy public prosecutor Gan Peng Kun on several messages that ministry officials had received from Zahid, she said it was a rush job to approve the extension.
She said the ministry’s stand was that there was no need to make a quick decision as the contract was way behind before it lapsed.
“For this reason, we should have taken our time to make an assessment before a decision was taken,” she added.
The court was told earlier that the contract for Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) to manage the VLN initially ran from Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 31, 2019.
The company sought an extension of the contract for three years until 2022.
Zahid, who is Bagan Datuk MP, is facing 33 alternative charges of receiving S$13.46 million from UKSB as an inducement to extend the company’s contract as the operator of the One Stop Centre in China and the VLN system as well as to maintain the agreement to supply the VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the company by the home ministry.
The Umno president is also facing another seven charges of accepting S$1,150,000; RM3,000,000; €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from UKSB which he knew had a connection with his function as the then minister.
The hearing before Judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa has been adjourned to Dec 20.