Former PNB CEO Abdul Jalil Rasheed has questioned the “smear campaign” to discredit him over his academic qualifications and urged Putrajaya to focus on other priorities instead.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a parliamentary reply that the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) had confirmed “inconsistencies” in Jalil’s university degree.

He also said the 38-year-old had resigned after the Securities Commission sought an explanation from PNB over the issue.

In a series of tweets today, Jalil (photo, above) clarified that he had been an “external student” at LSE, meaning he studied off-campus.

“That is a known fact to all my employers and friends,” he said.

Rather than issues with his degree, Jalil reiterated that he had quit PNB to avoid battling his own conscience.

“I resigned because I did not like where things were going. If somebody did not like me in return, they could have just told me, and I would have resigned. Easy.

“This whole thing has been unnecessary. As far as I’m concerned, good riddance,” he said.

Jalil also expressed bewilderment at what he called a "relentless witch hunt" and the "smear campaign to discredit" him.

Elaborating, he hoped that the government would continue his mission of wanting to bring professionalism into PNB instead of targeting former staff.

“Perhaps that focus should be the priority rather than harping on a CEO who has already resigned. Move forward, please. I certainly have,” he tweeted.

Jalil resigned last month, nine months after he was appointed as the government-owned fund management company’s youngest-ever CEO.

His departure led to concerns about whether the Perikatan Nasional government valued talented young leaders.

Replacing Jalil as PNB’s new CEO is former Khazanah deputy managing director Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn.

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