By Philomina Brando
Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Federal Government of attempting to intimidate the opposition by allegedly planning to revoke the licence of a venue billed to host the convention of the African Democratic Congress.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Tuesday, alleged that government agents were targeting the Rainbow Event Centre for hosting the party’s convention scheduled for April 14, 2026, describing the move as “a shameful and cowardly abuse of public office.”
He said, “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.”
The former presidential candidate insisted that the ADC had met all legal and contractual obligations required to use the venue, stressing that the party had not violated any law.
“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,” he said.
Atiku warned that such actions, if true, pose a threat to democratic principles, particularly the rights of opposition parties and citizens’ freedom of assembly.
“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 stated.
He also called on the international community and democratic partners to take note of the development, suggesting that it reflects a broader pattern of political suppression.
The former Vice-President, however, maintained that the party would not be deterred.
“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 added.
Efforts to get official reaction from government authorities on the allegation were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.