Rivers rerun: I am not working against APC —Dogara

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday, described as unfair, a statement credited to Senator Magnus Abe, one of the candidates in Saturday’s rerun in Rivers State, that he was working  to provide a clear political advantage for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s National Assembly rerun election in the state.

In a letter addressed to Senator Abe, Dogara said as a loyal party man, he would never work against the interest of the APC.

This was contained is statement issued by his Special Adviser Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, who said that “the Speaker’s only role in the allegation made by the distinguished senator is that of a presiding officer who brings down the gavel in affirmation of a decision taken by majority members of the House of Representatives.”

The statement, however, said, the Speaker neither introduced the motion to conduct a public hearing on Rivers State election, nor did he support any party during the debate.

The statement read: “The Speaker wishes to make it clear that he is always fair when presiding over issues raised by members of various parties in the House of Representatives, and this does not equate to discriminating against his own party, the All Progressives Congress ( APC ).”