secret, the Petroleum Development Act to be completed before the 1974 Malaysian general election. Rahman was in regular contact with Razaleigh to ask for updates about the terms offered by the Federal government. Razaleigh told Rahman about the abolishment of the concessions system and that 5% of oil revenues will be redirected back to the respective oil-producing States as royalty payments. A similar amount would go to the Federal government. Rahman considered this a fair deal and gave his blessings. While all other oil-producing States in Malaysia signed the petroleum agreement, Tun Mustapha, the chief minister of Sabah, stubbornly refused, complaining of the meagre 5% oil royalty. Mustapha requested for 10-20% of revenue as royalty, failing which he would pull Sabah out of Malaysia. However, Razaleigh refused to budge. This left the Malaysian Federal government with no choice but to make another deal with Harris Salleh (who was out of favour with Tun Mustapha) to establish the political party Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah (BERJAYA) and try to oust Mustapha out of power. However, Harris was reluctant to become the Chief Minister of Sabah and so Fuad Stephens was asked to assume the post of Chief Minister were BERJAYA to succeed. In the 1976 Sabah State elections, Tun Mustapha was successfully ousted by BERJAYA and Stephens was installed as Chief Minister in his place. Unfortunately, Stephens did not complete his term as he, along with five other State Ministers, died in the 1976 air crash. Harris replaced Stephens, and a week later, the oil agreement was signed. With Sabah entering into the agreement, PETRONAS had finally achieved total control of all oil and gas reserves in Malaysia. In 1974, the Petroleum Development Act was tabled in Parliament and then approved. PETRONAS (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) was incorporated on 17 August 1974. On 6 September 1974, Prime Minister Abdul Razak announced the appointment of Razaleigh as Chairman and Chief Executive of PETRONAS. Razak said: "From among the new blood, I intended to bring Tengku Razaleigh into the Cabinet. However, I have an important job for him, a job as important as that of a Cabinet Minister. I have decided to appoint him as chairman and Chief Executive of PETRONAS, which is equivalent to being a Cabinet Minister." Subsequently, Razaleigh had to relinquish his job as Chairman of PERNAS which he held from 1970, but retained the chairmanship of Bank Bumiputra. Initially, Exxon