PARTI Warisan Sabah president Shafie Apdal arrived in his hometown of Semporna today to a raucous welcome from some 2,000 supporters, a day after his release from remand over suspected graft.

The traffic congestion stretched over two kilometres  as supporters of the Semporna MP, who has retained the Semporna seat since 1995, each time with resounding majorities, headed to his home, where people had started gathering since 10am.

Rain did not deter the huge crowd from the gathering at Dewan Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, a hall adjacent to his house within the same compound.

The rally had been planned for him following his release on bail yesterday. He was arrested on October 19 to facilitate the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) probe into alleged embezzlement of RM1.5 billion from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, which he used to head while he was in Umno.

Shafie, who was suspended from the Barisan Nasional lynchpin party in 2015 after criticising Prime Minister Najib Razak, went on to form the opposition party Warisan.

He has said the graft probe is politically motivated.

Upon his release yesterday, he promised to reveal information about Umno’s Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman as well as information about the allegations in the investigation. – October 28, 2017.