Updated November 9, 10.45am

Former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi has denied claims made by a former OPM official that he employed his "brother-in-law" as his chief of staff. 

Neville Gafa', a former government official, wrote in his blog on Thursday that Leonard Callus, who served as Gonzi's chief of staff while in office, happened to be his wife, Kate Gonzi's, brother. 

Gafa' subsequently opined that criticism from the PN about Minister Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri having breached the ministerial code of ethics and abused their power over Bartolo's girlfriend's job was "hypocritical". 

However, in a Facebook post on Friday, Gonzi said that Gafa' had gotten it all wrong and accused him of being untruthful. 

"This is nothing but another blatant lie from the Labour Party, because Leonard Callus is not related to my wife, neither closely nor from a distance. He simply happens to have the same surname that Kate had before she married," he said. 

Gonzi also said that he had attempted to comment on the blog post to relay as much, but his comment is yet to appear and the content was not corrected. 

"Now look and see where the hypocrisy truly is!" he said. 

Gafa': Thank you for the clarification

Gafa' responded later on Friday, thanking Gonzi for the "clarification" concerning his wife and Callus. 

"It shows how attentive you are to the things I write," he said. Gafa' also noted that Gonzi's comment on his blog had been published.