Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, in a brief text message, said the present arrangement of RM10 million in annual payment should stay.

“The Penang government will not pay anything to Kedah. The federal government also does not need to entertain any claims outside of the existing agreement,” he said.

Chow said this after Sanusi requested Putrajaya for another RM90 million in honorarium as he claimed the “lease” value of the state of Penang had gone up.

Presently, Putrajaya pays Kedah RM10 million on behalf of Penang. The honorarium is in respect of an old lease agreement between the Kedah sultanate and the British who “founded” modern-day Penang.

Penang island, and eventually Seberang Perai, was leased by the Kedah sultanate to the British in 1791 for 10,000 Spanish dollars.

As a symbolic gesture, the federal government used to pay Kedah RM10,000 annually. But that amount was increased to RM10 million by Putrajaya in 2018.

Previously, the Penang government had said the sultanate effectively ceded the island and the land opposite the island on the peninsula after Merdeka.