Umno members must have loyalty to the party, not to individuals, BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan said.

This was in response to the Semporna Umno division in Sabah which retracted its invitation to party president Najib Abdul Razak in favour of his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin.

"Our loyalty is to the party, not to individuals or even division chiefs. I, as a member of the Umno supreme council, I don't want people to be loyal to me," he told reporters at an Aidilfitri event in Putrajaya today.

Semporna is the home base of Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal, who was dropped from the cabinet last Tuesday, along with Muhyiddin.

They had been vocal critics of Najib's handling of the 1MDB issue.

Rahman Dahlan ( photo ), who is also from Sabah, said he understands how Umno Semporna must feel in the aftermath of their leader being ousted from the cabinet.

However, the urban well-being, housing and local government minister said he hopes that they will remember where their loyalties should lie.

"What happened in Semporna, we appreciate and we understand how they feel at this time.

But I think in the long run, Umno Semporna will return to the principle that one's loyalties should be to the party and also to the institution of the presidency," he said.

He further explained that ministers come and go and Umno Sabah had always come out stronger.  

"One day, even I will not be a minister," he said.

'Accusations must be investigated'

Yesterday, Rahman Dahlan had said those in Umno would personally see to Najib's downfall if the RM2.6 billion deposited into the prime minister's personal account was indeed the rakyat's m oney.

He clarified his statement further today, saying that a thorough investigation must be done first in the face of any such accusation.

"What we are defending here, when there is an accusation, that means we must conduct a thorough investigation, that is what I want," he said.

A multi-agency special task force had been probing into the 1MDB allegations, but their investigations have been interrupted by the removal of Abdul Gani Patail ( photo ) as attorney-general last week.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which had also been looking into the 1MDB issue, recently had their hearings postponed until a new chairperson was appointed.

This following the former PAC chairperson Nur Jazlan Mohamed's appointment to the cabinet.

However, opposition members of the PAC have insisted they would go on with the hearings.