He has now called on the finance minister to instead sell the land reportedly worth RM100 million that he had earlier applied for, and give away the money to deserving people.

Najib suggested that the RM100 million be placed in a trust fund so that people could take up interest-free loans.

He said priority should be given to those who had applied for the Employees Provident Fund’s i-Citra withdrawal programme.

“The RM100 million can benefit 20,000 applicants with RM5,000 each,” he said in the comment section of a Facebook post urging finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz to raise the i-Citra withdrawals from the current RM5,000 to RM10,000.

Recently, Parliament heard that Najib had applied for his land entitlement, causing an uproar among those in the opposition bench.

De facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had later told Parliament that the government had agreed in principle to the request, saying Najib had the right to make the application.

Najib has since announced that he was withdrawing the application, saying the matter had created an “uncomfortable atmosphere”.

He said his office had only asked to be given a residence after the last general election as this was allowed under federal law for former prime ministers.

He said he was asked to choose from three plots of land.