ADC Yet To Secure Venue For National Convention

Barely 24 hours before its scheduled national convention, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has disclosed that it is yet to secure a venue in Abuja, raising fresh concerns over what the party described as attempts to frustrate its activities.

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The revelation was made by a party chieftain, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a post shared on his 𝕏 account on Monday.

Ologbondiyan said the party had made several attempts to secure venues in the Federal Capital Territory but was repeatedly turned down.

According to him, the ADC formally applied to use Eagle Square and submitted a request to the office of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

“As the bromide has shown, a letter was presented to the Office of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister for a permit to use the Eagles Square. The letter was acknowledged, but no response,” he said.

He also disclosed that efforts to secure the Velodrome at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium were unsuccessful.

“The ADC team paid several visits to the Ministry of Sports officials at the MKO Stadium. At the end, ADC was refused the use of the Velodrome,” Ologbondiyan added.

The party further alleged that privately owned event centres in Abuja had declined to host the convention due to fears of intimidation.

“To make matters worse, privately owned event centres in Abuja are turning down the ADC’s requests for fears of harassment in various forms from the government,”

he said.

Despite the challenges, the ADC insisted that its national convention would proceed as scheduled in Abuja on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.

“All ADC members, teeming party supporters and indeed all Nigerians are assured that, as contained in the NOTICE issued to INEC, the ADC National Convention will hold in Abuja as scheduled on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026,” Ologbondiyan declared.

Leadership Crisis Complicates Preparations

The venue challenge comes amid an ongoing leadership crisis within the party, involving factions loyal to former Senate President David Mark and Nafiu Bala following the resignation of former chairman Ralph Nwosu in 2025.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declined to recognise either faction pending the outcome of court proceedings.

The dispute has drawn the attention of several opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Aminu Tambuwal and Rauf Aregbesola, who recently protested at INEC headquarters over what they described as attempts to weaken opposition parties.