Umno supreme council member Nazri Abdul Aziz not only offended Umno number two Muhyiddin Yassin when he likened Muhyiddin to a pesky dog, Pagoh Umno Youth said.

The tourism and culture minister’s remarks are also an affront to all Johoreans and warrants an open apology, Pagoh Youth chief Mohd Zaid Abdul Rahman said in a statement today.

“We don’t understand how a minister could utter such disgusting remarks. We believe he not only insulted and angered us, but also all Johoreans,” Mohd Zaid said.

This is also not the first time Nazri has offended Johoreans, he said, referring to the public spat the minister had with the Johor crown prince last year.

Nazri had likened sidelined deputy president Muhyiddin to a dog which is nipping at Umno’s ankles, making it difficult for the party to fulfil its obligation.

Muhyiddin has been increasingly vocal in his criticism of party president Najib Abdul Razak, after Najib sacked him as deputy prime minister last year.

Mohd Zaid said Umno’s problem now was not Muhyiddin, but the party president’s actions.

He said Umno was still battling worsening public perception, after RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM42 million from state firm SRC International were found in Najib’s personal bank account.

Najib must take a leave of absence to allow independent investigation against him, as the attorney-general’s decision not to charge him over the two issues is not convincing the rakyat, he said.

Mohd Zaid added that despite being dropped from the cabinet, Muhyiddin never urged Pagoh Umno to work against Najib.

In fact, he said, Johor Umno Youth in the 2015 Umno general assembly urged an amicable resolution to the impasse, with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin playing the peacemaker.

However, Nazri’s insults against the Pagoh Umno chief are the last straw.

“This marks the end of our patience,” he said.

Commenting on this later, Nazri said Muhyiddin does not represent Johor.

“Since when was Muhyiddin Johor’s representative? Johor Umno chief is Khaled Nordin.

“If Khaled summoned me then that's a different thing," he said.

Dismissing Mohd Zaid’s demand as mere “child’s play”, Nazri told him to “grow up”.

“There's so many things for us to do to champion the Malays and Muhyiddin is not representative of all Malays,” he said.