By Christiana Ekpa
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has said that he enjoys a cordial relationship with Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State against a media report that suggested otherwise.
In a report titled, ‘Uzodimma Reports Abbas To Tinubu For Giving Ugochinyere Juicy Committee,’ a national daily insinuated that both Speaker Abbas and Governor Uzodinma are at loggerheads.
However, in a press statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, the Speaker said the report was “fictitious” and “malicious”, and urged the public to disregard the story.
The Press Statement Reads Thus:
Re: Uzodimma Reports Abbas To Tinubu For Giving Ugochinyere Juicy Committee
“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.
“It is worthy to note that Speaker Abbas Tajudeen was overwhelmingly voted by 353 out of 360 members of the House on June 13th, 2023 under the platform of the ‘Joint Task Coalition for Nation Building’ of the 10th House of Representatives. As such, the Speaker, and indeed the leadership of the House, have the responsibility to ensure that chairmanship of the Standing Committees of the House and responsibilities are assigned to elected lawmakers across political parties.
“Suffice to say, there is no element of truth whatsoever in the story under reference. The Speaker, therefore, urges the public to discountenance the report completely, as it is entirely the figment of the overheated imagination of the writer and his sponsors.
“The Speaker also wishes to distance himself from any group or groups parading themselves as working for him. Such groups are cautioned and advised to desist from going about in the name of protecting the interest of the Speaker as they do not have his imprimatur so to do” he said
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