The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has denied having any rift with the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
This follows reports that Abbas and Uzodimma were at loggerheads over the appointment of the lawmaker representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency, Ikenga Ugochinyere as the chairman of a supposedly “juicy” committee in the House.
The Speaker, in a statement on Wednesday by his media aide, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, debunked the claims of an issue with Uzodimma, who is also the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum.
Both Abbas and Uzodimma are All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts.
Describing the report as “fictitious” and “malicious”, Abbas said he enjoys a cordial relationship with Uzodimma and there was no rift over the issue of Ugochinyere’s committee chairmanship appointment.
In light of this, he urged the public to disregard the story.
The statement reads, “It has come to the attention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, that a newspaper report with the above headline has been in circulation.
“Ordinarily, the Speaker would not respond to such a fictitious and malicious story, but for the unsuspecting public, who may be hoodwinked by the content of the report that was only attributed to imaginary ‘sources.’
“The Speaker wishes to inform the public that at no time did the Imo State Governor, His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodinma, contact him to rescind the appointment of Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere as the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).
“For the record, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen enjoys a cordial relationship with Governor Hope Uzodinma and nothing has happened to warrant any sour relationship between them.”