He said that Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow and Jagdeep may think that with Baldev Singh Gurchan Singh rejecting the board chairmanship, “they can sweep the entire issue under the carpet”.

“(But) questions about the motion being passed in the state assembly still need to be addressed,” he said in a statement.

The former Bagan Dalam assemblyman said Chow and Jagdeep must also explain whether they had disclosed Baldev’s relationship with Jagdeep to the excos as well as the state assembly prior to the tabling of the motion.

Yesterday, FMT reported that Baldev had declined the post following the allegations of nepotism.

Satees was reported to have asked Chow to explain the appointment of his deputy’s father-in-law as the head of the appeals board.

“Are there no other suitable and knowledgeable persons in Penang, other than the deputy chief minister’s father-in-law, to be appointed chairman of the board? Is this not nepotism?” he said.

On Thursday, the Penang legislative assembly had approved a motion to appoint six members to the board, with Baldev as chairman.

The motion, presented by Jagdeep himself, was unanimously approved.

The role of the appeals board was to look into appeals submitted by anyone whose requests for information were rejected by a state-related department.