Azis said Warisan president Shafie Apdal need not provide proof to back his allegation, adding that the matter should be left to MACC to investigate.

“True, there is no video evidence of her (Kunak assemblyman Norazlinah Arif) receiving money, because no agent wants their video recorded while giving money. However, the culture of ‘buying’ representatives and party-hopping in Sabah is no longer a secret,” Azis said.

He said Norazlinah could deny as much as she wanted, but the video she made a few months before defecting was enough to prove the existence of an attempt to buy over Warisan assemblymen.

“So, let MACC carry out an investigation, if it is true that they were burdened with debt before leaving the party (and) what their current financial situation is after leaving Warisan,” he said, according to Utusan Malaysia.

On Feb 16, Norazlinah dared Shafie to lodge a report with MACC over claims she was “bought over”, saying she was ready to be investigated by the authorities.

A day earlier, Shafie claimed in the Dewan Rakyat that Norazlinah and two other assemblymen – Chong Chen Bin (Tanjong Kapor) and Mohammad Mohamarin (Banggi) – had been “bought over” to leave Warisan and support Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor.

Azis claimed that before their exit, the three assemblymen had a series of meetings with Shafie, in which they admitted to being offered positions and money to leave the party.

He also claimed there are “agents” in Sabah who “buy” elected representatives.

Since the Sabah state election in September 2020, Warisan has lost nine assemblymen, including Norazlinah, Chong and Mohammad. The rest are Hassan A Gani Pg Amir (Sebatik), Yusof Yacob (Sindumin), Mohamaddin Ketapi (Segama), Peter Anthony (Melalap), Juil Nuatim (Limbahau) and Rina Jainal (Kukusan).