Speaker Abbas denies rift with Gov Uzodinma over ‘juicy slot’

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas has said there is no rift between him and Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State.

He was reacting to a story with the headline, ‘Uzodimma reports Abbas to Tinubu for giving Ugochinyere juicy committee’ in which the writer said the governor had contacted Abbas to rescind the appointment of Hon. Ugochinyere as the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).

In a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, Abbas said he enjoys a cordial relationship with the Imo State governor, noting there was no rift over the issue of Ugochinyere’s committee chairmanship.

The speaker described the report as “fictitious” and “malicious”, and urged the public to disregard the story.

The statement reads in part, “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.

“It is worthy to note that Speaker Abbas Tajudeen was overwhelmingly voted by 353 of the 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.”