KOTA KINABALU, Feb 10 — The newly elected Lamag assemblyman, Mohd Ismail Ayob, took the oath as a member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly today before Speaker Datuk Seri Kadzim M Yahya.

Mohd Ismail, 44, won the Lamag state by-election on January 24 under the Barisan Nasional (BN) banner, securing a majority of 5,681 votes.

He garnered 7,269 votes to defeat Parti Warisan candidate Mazliwati Abdul Malek, who received 1,588 votes.

Better known as Miha, Mohd Ismail had previously contested the Lamag seat as an Independent and emerged as the strongest challenger in the last Sabah state election.

In that contest, he polled 3,755 votes, finishing just 153 votes behind the then incumbent, the late Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, who obtained 3,908 votes.

The Lamag state by-election was held simultaneously with the Kinabatangan parliamentary by-election, which was also won by BN through Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar, following the death of Bung Moktar on December 5 last year. — Bernama