MACC chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull revealed that the commission's top brass had lobbied previous government ministers to replace then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak with someone else over the 1MDB scandal.

"The two of us (myself and then-MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed) split up and met with ministers... to convince them that the RM2.6 billion, and RM42 million SRC International cases are not made up.

"(We told them) please, get rid of this person (Najib), get rid of this corrupt person.

"Get rid of Najib and replace him with whoever, with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or Hishammuddin Hussein," Shukri said in a press conference at the graftbuster's headquarters today.

However, he said their pleas fell on deaf ears and only three ministers – Muhyiddin Yassin, Shafie Apdal, and Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah – took heed of their warning.

Muhyiddin and Shafie were both axed from the cabinet for speaking out on 1MDB. Husni later resigned from the cabinet, but denied it was linked to the state investment firm.

Shukri said several former ministers have since told him that if they had listened to him, then they would not have lost the general election.

'We said Tuanku, please look into this'

Meanwhile, Shukri said the MACC had also met with the Conference of Rulers twice over the 1MDB scandal.

However, he said both meetings in 2015 ended in disappointment.

"We met with the Conference of Rulers twice. Twice we had an audience with them.

"We said Tuanku, please look into this. But we were disappointed," he said.

Malaysiakini has contacted the palace for response on the matter.

Najib is currently being investigated by the MACC for corruption.He is accused of having received US$681 million (commonly referred to as RM2.6 billion) allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

The ex-premier is also said to have received RM42 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.

He has denied allegations of wrongdoing and stealing public funds.

Malaysiakini, in the weeks leading up to Najib's purge on cabinet members and agency heads who stood against him in the 1MDB scandal, had also highlighted key events that appeared intended to scuttle the investigation.

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