ADC’s convention venue owner said Wike threatened to revoke his facility’s licence: Spokesman

“Lies upon lies. Just the usual noise for media attention. Did they give you any evidence on the claims?” Mr Olayinka said in a statement to the Peoples Gazette on Tuesday.

Ambali Abdulkabeer • April 14, 2026

ADC chieftains (Credit: adc.org.ng)

The African Democratic Congress has raised the alarm over an attempt by the owner of its planned convention venue, Rainbow Event Centre, to cancel the party’s booking.

“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,” said ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, in a statement on Monday.

The ADC earlier announced a new venue for its convention scheduled for today (Tuesday) after the coalition said it was denied access to both Eagle Square and the Moshood Abiola National Stadium despite efforts to get approvals from relevant authorities.

Mr Abdullahi, however, said the party had already had an agreement with the owner of its new venue, vowing to continue with its convention as planned.

“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,” he added.

Rainbow’s management could not be immediately reached for clarification on ADC’s allegations.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Mr Wike, Lere Olayinka, said ADC was lying.

“Lies upon lies. Just the usual noise for media attention. Did they give you any evidence on the claims?” Mr Olayinka said in a statement to the Peoples Gazette on Tuesday.

He slammed the ADC over the claim that it was denied access to Eagle Square, accusing the party of failure to seek approval from the appropriate authorities.

“First, they claimed their request to use Eagle Square was rejected, even when they didn’t make any request to the Abuja Investments Company Limited. For instance, I saw a letter that the David Mark faction of ADC claimed they wrote to the FCT minister on April 7, 2026.

“Is the 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 to because they aren’t serious about anything,” Mr Olayinka stated.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.