Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has debunked the rumour circulating in the media as to his joining the race for the next speakership.

He said this in a statement made available to News Express on Sunday morning by his Special Adviser (Media & Public Affairs), Turaki Hassan.

According to the statement, “Our attention has been drawn to stories published in some national dailies to the effect that His Excellency, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has joined the race for the Speakership of the 9th Assembly.

“We wish to distance the Speaker from the fake news being pushed and circulated by mischief makers and enemies of progress who want to create confusion in order to benefit and feast on it.

“The Rt. Hon. Speaker has always spoken for himself and would not be engaged in childish hide and seek games. When he contested in 2015 he openly sought for support and openly canvassed for votes and there is nothing stopping him from doing so now if that were the case.

“We have official channels of communication and we have not issued any statement to that effect.

“We urge members of the public to totally disregard the fake news being published about the Speaker.”