Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has alleged that the venue of the party’s convention in Abuja is under pressure to cancel its booking.
Abdullahi said the management of Rainbow Event Centre
informed the party of threats from authorities.
He alleged that the pressure is coming from the Federal
Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).
“After paying all the fees required, setting up for our
convention tomorrow, the owner of Rainbow Event centre has just informed us
that he has come under pressure from the FCDA and Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike
that if he allows the ADC the use of his facilities, his licence will be
revoked,” Abdullahi wrote in an X post.
“But we have already signed the contract with him. We will
hold our convention tomorrow as planned at the Rainbow event centre.
“We will not bow to this creeping tyranny. And definitely
not to this petty tyrant.”
Reacting, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president and ADC
chieftain, described the alleged development as an abuse of public office.
“The reports from the spokesperson of our great party, which
exposes the plans of the government and its agents to revoke the licence of
Rainbow Event Centre for the singular offence of hosting the African Democratic
Congress convention slated for today, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, is a shameful
and cowardly abuse of public office,” he said.
Abubakar added that denying an opposition party access to a
venue undermines democratic principles.
“Let it be said without equivocation: coercing a private
business owner to deny a lawfully registered opposition party the use of a
venue is not governance,” he said.
“It is not politics. It is the naked conduct of a regime
that has lost the argument, lost the people, and now reaches for the boot
because it has nothing else left.
“The ADC has paid every fee. The ADC has signed every
contract. The ADC has broken no law.
“Our only offence is that we are organising, we are growing,
and we are preparing to retire this failed government at the ballot box in
2027.”
Abubakar warned that such actions could weaken democratic
institutions.
“This is how democracies are strangled, not in a single
dramatic blow, but in a thousand petty, vindictive acts against opposition
parties, against free assembly, and against the sacred right of citizens to
choose their own leaders,” he said.
“To the international community, and every democratic
partner of Nigeria: take note of what is being done here tonight, and in whose
name.”
He said the party would proceed with its convention.
“We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. We
will not bow to this creeping tyranny, and we will never bow to the petty
tyrants behind it,” he added.
“The convention will hold. The ADC will rise. And Nigeria
will rise with it.”
EAGLE SQUARE
On Monday, the ADC said it was denied access to the Eagle Square and Moshood Abiola National Stadium for its convention.
The opposition party added that it had written to Wike’s
office, seeking permission to use Eagle Square. It alleged that although the
letter was acknowledged, no official response had been received.
In a post on X, Lere Olayinka, Wike’s spokesperson, said the
ADC had applied to the wrong office.
“I saw a letter… the David Mark faction of ADC claimed they
wrote to the FCT Minister, on April 7, 2026,” Olayinka wrote.
“Is office of the FCT Minister in charge of Eagle Square?
The answer is NO. It is the Abuja Investments Company Limited.
“But as usual, they won’t know who exactly to apply through
because they aren’t serious about anything.
“Also, how do you write a letter, seeking the use of a venue
SEVEN DAYS to a National Convention, when you are to give INEC 21 Days notice,
stating DATE, VENUE and TIME?”
The ADC has repeatedly accused the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) of interference and the electoral umpire of meddling since the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) derecognised factional
leaderships of the party over a court ruling.
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