“No minister has informed me that he is quitting,” Najib said on Facebook and Twitter.
“I shall assume Azmin is telling a lie to create a stir unless he can reveal the name.”
According to Malaysiakini, however, Azmin is standing by his tweet, saying he had been informed by the minister who was quitting himself.
“The information (came) directly from the said person. Just wait, we will make the announcement,” Azmin was reported to have told journalists at a dinner function in Klang later that night.
The Selangor menteri besar had asked on Twitter if news that a “senior minister” has resigned was true. The claim was repeated by former Bersih 2.0 chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan at an event to mark the second anniversary of Anwar Ibrahim’s jailing outside the Sungai Buloh Prison tonight.
Checks with several Cabinet members also failed to confirm the “news” that has sent the media into a frenzy.
Several ministers have said they are in the dark, while others have not responded to phone calls and text messages.
The 1MDB controversy was at the centre of a Cabinet reshuffle in July 2015, costing deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and rural development minister Shafie Apdal their posts.
In June last year, Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah announced he was resigning as second finance minister, citing “stress” over the 1MDB controversy.