Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad testifies he was unaware of his daughter’s board appointments before and after he took office, in a RM5 million defamation suit against Najib Razak.
KUALA LUMPUR: Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told the High Court he was unaware of his eldest daughter’s appointments to two companies, which allegedly occurred before and after he became a minister.
The 70-year-old plaintiff stated his daughter, Nurul Iman, was appointed as a non-executive director of AIM Solutions Group Bhd on April 30, 2018, prior to his own ministerial appointment in July that year.
He further explained her second appointment as a board member with Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia took place in October 2018, after he had assumed office.
“I was not aware of either appointment,” said the minister when questioned by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, on the first day of the RM5 million defamation trial.
In his witness statement, Dzulkefly insisted he had never influenced his daughter’s appointment at AIM Solutions.
“I did not even know that she had been asked, applied or headhunted and had accepted the position on the board as a non-executive director for the company,” he stated.
He added that he believed her progress in the company was based solely on her own capabilities and had nothing to do with him or any other person.
“She is as I said, a woman with ability and a capable one at that,” Dzulkefly told the court.
“To tarnish my reputation and hers is totally uncalled for,” he concluded on the matter.
When asked by his own counsel, Stanley Sabastien Sinnappen, the plaintiff confirmed Najib had not contacted him before posting the alleged statement on Facebook.
Najib, who is the defendant in the case, attended today’s proceedings before Judge Mahazan Mat Taib, with the trial set to continue tomorrow.
Dzulkefly filed the suit against the former prime minister on December 31, 2021, over a Facebook post by Najib.
The post allegedly claimed Dzulkefly had practised nepotism to ensure his daughter’s appointment as a board member of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia.
The minister further alleged the statement was published with the intent to humiliate him and was politically motivated to tarnish his reputation.
In his statement of defence filed on March 29, 2022, Najib contended that the post was not directed at Dzulkefly personally but at the Pakatan Harapan coalition.