Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he didn鈥檛 have enough information on allegations against Rick Dykstra to justify blocking his candidacy in the 2015 federal election campaign.

Harper explained his decision in a statement posted to Twitter late Friday night.

鈥淲hen allegations were brought to my attention during (the) 2015 election campaign, I understood the matter had been investigated by the police and closed a year prior. Given this understanding of the situation, I did not believe that I could justify removing him as a candidate,鈥� Harper said.

鈥淩ecently, much more information has come to light, including information to the effect that the original investigation may not have been complete.鈥�

In 2014, a Conservative staffer accused Dykstra of sexual assault and she filed a report, according to Maclean鈥檚, which spoke with the woman. Dykstra has denied the allegations against him and they have not been tested in court.

Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has said there will be a third-party investigation into how Dykstra was allowed to run in 2015.

Dykstra lost in that election but went on to become president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, until his resignation last month.