By Onoja Baba, Nigeria
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticised what he described as a “shameful and cowardly abuse of public office” after reports emerged that the Nigerian government and its agents planned to revoke the operating licence of the Rainbow Event Centre in Abuja simply for hosting the national convention of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scheduled for today, Tuesday.
In a strongly worded statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account late on Monday night, Atiku, a prominent figure in the opposition coalition, accused the authorities of coercing the private business owner to deny the lawfully registered opposition party access to the venue.
“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. 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,” Atiku stated.
The ADC, which has been positioning itself as a major opposition force ahead of the 2027 general elections, had reportedly paid all required fees and signed contracts for the use of the Rainbow Event Centre, located at Plot 1193a, Off Southern Parkway, Garki Area 8, Abuja.
According to Atiku, the party 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,” he added.
The former vice president framed the alleged move as part of a broader pattern of undermining democratic rights.
“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,” Atiku said.
He called on the international community and Nigeria’s democratic partners to take note of the development.
Atiku vowed that the opposition would not be intimidated.
“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. The convention will hold. The ADC will rise. And Nigeria will rise with it,” he declared.
The ADC had earlier announced its national convention for April 14, 2026, as the climax of a series of congresses aimed at electing new party leadership structures.
Reports circulating on social media suggested the venue owner was pressured after preparations for the event were already underway.
As of Tuesday morning, it remained unclear whether the licence revocation threat had been carried out or if the convention would proceed at the Rainbow Event Centre or an alternative venue. Some unconfirmed reports indicated that ADC may have secured the venue despite the alleged pressure.
The development comes amid heightened political tensions in Nigeria, with opposition figures, including Atiku and other leaders aligned with the ADC coalition, having staged protests in recent weeks against what they perceive as partisanship by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and alleged authoritarian tendencies by the ruling All Progressive
s Congress (APC) administration.
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