The Senator for Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has alleged that Senate President Godwill Akpabio’s daughter got a top job at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) without following proper procedures.
He claimed that the former NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, helped “arrange” the appointment for Akpabio’s daughter.
Oshiomhole made the claim during an interview on the Mic On Podcast with Seun Okinbaloye, noting that the information he received indicated the appointment did not follow the usual recruitment process.
“Myself inclusive. The second is my response to the former chief financial controller of NNPC, whose tenure the investigation covers, who pointedly told the committee: ‘It is you, people.’ And now I know that the Senate President said his daughter was taken by Mele Kyari and put in a, well, as Nigerians we say, in a juicy position that he probably didn’t merit,” he said.
Oshiomhole further alleged that nepotism has become entrenched within the national oil company, claiming that both past and present officials facilitated employment opportunities for relatives.
“They all have employed their children, their uncles, their cousins, their in-laws into various aspects of NNPC and put them in different positions. If they carry out the payroll of NNPC, you will find that they’ve turned the top level to a family business,” he said.
The senator, however, maintained that there was nothing wrong with relatives of public officials working in the NNPC, provided they are qualified and recruited through due process.
“You can only make an issue if you give them a job they did not merit, they are not qualified for, and you didn’t follow the right procedure. Well, somebody told me that the Senate president daughter was taken without, not through a regular interview, not through the normal, but that is his own problem,” Oshiomhole said.
He also responded to criticism that the Senate had reportedly rejected the arrest warrant for Kyari. He said the legislative action was allowed under the powers given to the National Assembly by the Constitution.