He said Iqbal had served as his aide since 2009. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Multimedia University (MMU) Melaka, Berita Harian reported.

“It is only nepotism if he lacked the qualifications or only had a diploma for a post that required a degree. Or if he was a fresh graduate appointed to a post that required a decade’s worth of experience,” he told Berita Harian.

Johari said he was currently considering appointing Iqbal, who had been with him for 14 years. Appointing Iqbal as an aide would merely be a continuation of his career. “It is also a matter of trust. I might as well continue with him,” he said.

He also said training a new employee was not easy.

Yesterday, Johari had denied claims that his son had been appointed a special officer to assist him in the Dewan Rakyat.

Reports have been circulating online that Iqbal was appointed a Special Tasks Officer 1 to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker. The allegations were made by Perikatan Nasional member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard.

Detractors of Anwar Ibrahim’s government had recently accused him of nepotism for appointing his daughter, Nurul Izzah, as a special adviser. In response, Anwar said nepotism was defined as family members being given a position “to abuse power, enrich themselves, obtain contracts and get paid a huge sum”.