Telekom Malaysia chairperson Sulaiman Mahbob has been appointed acting chairperson of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), replacing Isa Samad, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

Najib said Isa would now serve as acting chairperson of Land Public Transport Commission (Spad), replacing its former chairperson Syed Hamid Albar who announced his retirement earlier this month.

"The government, in exercising its full rights under the provision of Article 80 of FGV's memorandum of articles and association, has appointed with immediate effect Sulaiman as acting chairperson of FGV," said Najib, adding that Isa voluntarily relinquished his position as FGV chair. 

Sulaiman would be tasked with overseeing the implementation of recommendations by Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) head Idris Jala's independent report on the FGV board decisions, including the suspension of its CEO, CFO and two other senior management officials.

Najib said the government and FGV have accepted four key findings in the report in relations to an alleged breach of procedures in Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd (DOP), a subsidiary of FGV.

"To uphold the integrity, spirit of impartiality of the ongoing inquiry and ensuring proper corporate governance of FGV and DOP, the government has decided to appoint Isa as acting chairperson of Spad," he said.

Najib further said FGV should continue with its ongoing disciplinary proceedings as there are sufficient facts and reasonable grounds that warrants the suspensions.

“It should be highlighted that no one is guilty of any wrongdoing at this juncture unless proven by the impending domestic inquiries.

“During the domestic inquiries, the four management officials will be able to defend themselves in line the laws of natural justice.

Other recommendations made include for FGV to set-up a “quantum leap team” to improve its corporate governance practice and business controls at the group and subsidiary levels; as well as to complete an ongoing business review to address a decline in the company’s financial performance.

Isa resigns with immediate effect

Meanwhile, FGV, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia, said Isa has resigned from his post with immediate effect.

According to FGV, Isa has "ceased his appointment as a government-appointed director to focus on his personal undertakings."

Yesterday, Federal Land Authority (Felda) chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad said that there should be a leadership change at FGV, according to The Star.

He said that any decision would be made by the government, which is the special shareholder through the finance ministry.

Isa's tenure has come under intense scrutiny after the FGV board instructed company CEO Zakaria Arshad and three other officers to go on leave pending internal investigations.

Following this, Zakaria struck back by claiming that he had tried to stop "ridiculous" investments sought by the board, valued at hundreds of millions of ringgit, which were unrelated to FGV's core business. The FGV board has denied this.

Apart from heading Telekom Malaysia, Sulaiman is also an adjunct professor at Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, specialising in economics and public policy.

He graduated in economics from UM and obtained a PhD from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Shahrir and Sulaiman have yet to respond to requests for comments.