KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir denied today any contact between him and controversial data firm Cambridge Analytica (CA), following a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office claiming as such.

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) deputy president also clarified his link with his former media officer, Azrin Zizal, who later headed the South-east Asia division of SCL Group, the parent company of CA.

“I categorically deny any contact with @CamAnalytica at any time,” Mukhriz said in a brief statement on his Twitter account @MukhrizMahathir, tagging the firm’s account.

“Azrin Zizal was my Media Officer 2009-2013 at MITI,” he added, using the initials for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

“He was not employed by me as a representative of SCL Group or Cambridge Analytica, and he was no longer my Media Officer when I became Kedah MB.”

The Prime Minister’s Office stated today that a representative from SCL Group confirmed that it had personally provided its advice to then-Kedah Umno chief Mukhriz.

Putrajaya and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) also said they had never engaged the firm’s services in the 13th general election.

CA claimed to have supported the BN Kedah campaign during the 2013 general election with a “targeted messaging campaign” highlighting school improvements since 2008.

The election saw a swing back to BN’s favour with a landslide victory in which 21 out of 36 state seats and 10 out of 15 parliamentary seats returned to the ruling coalition’s hands.

Mukhriz was appointed Kedah mentri besar following the victory; however, he resigned from the post on February 3, 2016 after the Regency council told him that he had lost the support of the majority in the state legislative assembly.