Labour group secretary Willie Young has rejected suggestions he is “pulling the strings” at the town house.
Opposition members claimed that outgoing leader Barney Crockett had been “stabbed in the back” by his colleague.
But finance convener Mr Young insisted that it was a group decision – and maintained that he would still have a “good and close” relationship with Mr Crockett.
He said: “The problem for us all is that when you have a political party, you have got to abide by all of the rules, and the rules at Labour are that we have an AGM.
“That date is set, and all the positions are up for re-election, and that’s exactly what happened.
“The members are entitled to decide how they want to move forward, and they wanted to elect Jenny as leader.
“What I do know is that Barney has been leader for the last five years, three in opposition and two in administration.
“I really enjoyed working with Barney. and I like to think that we had a good and close relationship. I hope that has not changed.”
Mr Young said the former Labour group leader had worked “tirelessly” to make sure that Aberdeen was “open for business”, particularly following widespread criticism following the decision to scrap the City Garden Project.
He predicted that the decision to axe the £140million scheme for Union Terrace Gardens would be vindicated in future years.
Mr Young said: “Barney will be proved correct when we don’t have that mortgage around our necks, we would have had something that we could not afford.”
Mr Young also added that his colleagues work on a Strategic Infrastructure Plan (SIP) for the future of the city would also “bear fruit” in the years to come.
He added: “That is something that will be to his absolute credit.”