Senator Adams Oshiomhole has ignited fresh controversy in Nigeria’s political establishment with explosive allegations that Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s daughter was appointed to a lucrative position in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited through the personal intervention of former NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari, without going through the standard recruitment process.

The Edo North senator made the allegations during an interview on the Mic On Podcast hosted by journalist Seun Okinbaloye, where he was defending his conduct during the Senate Public Accounts Committee’s investigation into alleged financial discrepancies in NNPC’s records amounting to over ₦210 trillion.

Oshiomhole, a former Edo State governor and ex-national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, framed the allegation as context for what he described as Akpabio’s personal interest in shielding NNPC from meaningful legislative scrutiny. He contended that the Senate President’s decision to disown a bench warrant issued against Kyari and to distance the Senate from Oshiomhole’s characterisation of NNPC officials as criminal was driven not by parliamentary principle but by private considerations.

“Somebody told me that the Senate president’s daughter was taken without going through the regular interview process,” Oshiomhole said, adding that he had been informed the appointment bypassed the standard recruitment procedure. He was careful to acknowledge, however, that the information came from third parties and that he could not personally verify the claims.

The senator went further to paint a broader picture of systemic nepotism within the national oil company, alleging that successive NNPC leadership had effectively turned the organisation’s upper echelon into a vehicle for family patronage. He claimed that past and present officials had used their positions to secure employment for children, relatives, and in-laws, describing the result as a situation where the top levels of one of Nigeria’s most important institutions resembles a family enterprise.

Oshiomhole maintained that employing relatives was not inherently improper, but became unacceptable when candidates were unqualified or bypassed due process to secure positions they did not merit.

In response, Akpabio’s spokesperson Eseme Eyiboh flatly denied the allegations, stating that none of the Senate President’s children work at NNPC or any of its subsidiaries, and invoking the legal principle that the burden of proof lies with the person making an allegation.

The denial drew a sharp line under what has become one of the most publicly contentious feuds within the 10th Senate, with Oshiomhole also alleging that Akpabio was actively working to damage his reputation and block any future bid he might make for the Senate Presidency. Oshiomhole claimed that over 80 percent of senators privately agreed with his position on the NNPC matter but were reluctant to speak out.

The row adds yet another layer of turbulence to an NNPC investigation that has already been marked by controversy, including Oshiomhole’s call for Kyari to be brought before the committee and a Senate committee on Dangote Refinery-NNPC crude supply disputes that Oshiomhole claims was constituted but never allowed to sit. With the 2027 general election cycle increasingly shaping political calculations within the National Assembly, the escalating clash between the two APC heavyweights is widely seen as part of a broader realignment battle for control of the Senate’s future leadership.