He said discussions would be held with government-aligned assemblymen on such a move, which could also involve tabling Cabinet minutes and official correspondence from the former Warisan state government in 2019.
Armizan said the documents showed that the then state administration agreed to a review of the special grant under Article 112(C) of the Federal Constitution at only RM53.4 million.
“These documents are kept safely. Let the error of those actions be etched in the Hansard for the public and future generations to see,” he said in a statement today.
He was responding to Kapayan assemblyman Chin Tek Ming of Warisan, who expressed dissatisfaction after his private member’s motion on the 40% entitlement was rejected at the recent state assembly sitting.
Chin said the rejection showed a lack of political will to secure Sabah’s constitutional rights.
Armizan said the decision was made under the speaker’s authority and should not be seen as the state government abandoning the claim.
He also described Chin’s motion as politically driven, saying it was meant to portray Warisan as the main champion of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 while casting GRS assemblymen as obstructing the cause.
“The state government is moving aggressively to claim its rights. It makes no sense to ask government assemblymen to support a personal motion meant to confuse the public,” he said.
Armizan further pointed to what he called contradictions in Warisan’s position, noting the party’s statement during the August 2019 state assembly that it was not appropriate to take the 40% claim against the federal government to court.
The Papar MP previously produced a 2019 letter from the Sabah finance ministry’s permanent secretary to the federal finance ministry, confirming the Warisan Cabinet’s acceptance of RM53.4 million.
Former chief minister Shafie Apdal acknowledged the decision but defended it, saying his administration had to operate within federal fiscal constraints at the time.
Warisan also argued that the acceptance was an interim arrangement made explicitly without prejudice to Sabah’s constitutional 40% entitlement, and that no final agreement was reached with Putrajaya in 2019.
Nevertheless, Armizan said he was confident that the current federal government would seriously consider Sabah’s request.
He said the state was targeting an increase in the special grant from RM600 million to at least RM3 billion annually as an initial step, to be implemented immediately rather than in stages.
He added that the Anwar Ibrahim-led government had taken an “unprecedented position” by acknowledging Sabah’s 40% entitlement in Parliament on Nov 12, 2025.
“Previous administrations even answered in Parliament that the 40% right had ceased to be in force,” he said.