Saifuddin Abdullah’s call for the former prime minister to come clean follows the appearance of pictures of Adlan living lavishly abroad.

Saifuddin had pushed for an answer from Muhyiddin in the party’s WhatsApp group, in which he also noted that the matter had been raised in Parliament twice, but no explanation was provided.

He said the matter was raised again for the third time yesterday when Muhyiddin, the Pagoh MP, was speaking during the budget debate.

“But he did not respond,” Saifuddin said. “If the father-in-law remains silent on the matter, how are we supposed to respond?

Saifuddin said that while Bersatu members empathise with Muhyiddin there was a necessity to resolve the issue immediately as it puts the party at risk of being dragged through the mud.

Adlan and his lawyer, Mansoor Saat, are being sought by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to assist in an investigation into a project involving the registration, recruitment and storage of foreign worker biometric data at a ministry.

The police said an arrest warrant for Adlan had been issued.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail said the police had been informed that the businessman is currently overseas.

Saifuddin, when contacted, said he had not commented on the matter at first, but decided to speak up after seeing criticism within party circles.

“This morning, in several internal WhatsApp groups, there were people attacking Hamzah Zainudin (Bersatu’s deputy president) for not defending Muhyiddin.

“So I thought, what the heck! Hence my posting.”

The New Straits Times recently ran a report claiming that Adlan has been living a luxurious lifestyle in a Middle Eastern country after fleeing Malaysia more than two years ago.

Several photos shared with the newspaper allegedly show Adlan with prominent figures from the region, including one image featuring a portrait of a national leader of that country.

A source told the NST that Adlan frequently travels in and out of the country for trips abroad, including to Thailand, where he is said to play golf and visit shooting ranges.