Oshiomhole Accuses Akpabio’s Daughter of Securing NNPC Role Without Proper Interview

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, has alleged that the daughter of Senate President Godswill Akpabio was appointed to a lucrative position at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) without following the standard recruitment procedure.

According to Oshiomhole, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari, played a role in facilitating the appointment. He stated that information available to him indicated the hiring did not occur through the normal recruitment process.

“Myself inclusive. The second is my response to the former chief financial controller of NNPC, whose tenure the investigation covers, who pointedly said to the committee that 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.

The senator further claimed that nepotism has become entrenched within NNPC, asserting that both past and present officials have employed relatives—children, uncles, cousins, and in‑laws—into various roles across the corporation.

“If they carry out the payroll of NNPC, you will find that they’ve turned the top level into a family business,” Oshiomhole remarked.

He clarified that there is no objection to relatives of public officials working at NNPC, provided they are qualified and appointed 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’s daughter was taken without, not through a regular interview, not through the normal, but that is his own problem,” Oshiomhole added.

Oshiomhole also responded to criticism regarding the Senate’s reported disowning of the arrest warrant issued against Mele Kyari, insisting that the legislative action remained within the constitutional powers of the National Assembly.