The commission’s CEO, Abdul Nasser Abdul Wahid, lodged the report against Sabahkini2 over its purported claim that the Libaran independent power producer (IPP) project was awarded to Muhyiddin’s son-in-law without approval from the state Cabinet.

Nasser said the allegations in the news portal’s article were false and baseless.

In a statement, ECoS said all decisions were made according to the laws, regulations, policies and official procedures established by the state government.

“This includes implementing decisions of the Sabah Energy Council as mandated by the state Cabinet,” it said.

It urged the authorities to investigate Sabahkini2 for “potential spread of false information to tarnish his (Nasser’s) and ECoS’s reputation as a credible regulatory body”.

It said legal action should be taken against them under criminal defamation and communications laws if evidence of wrongdoing were found.

The statement also said Nasser was considering taking civil action for “losses and reputation damage” suffered by him and ECoS.

It said Nasser was ready to cooperate with the authorities in any investigation.