A big meeting meant to bring together different opposition politicians in Nigeria was suddenly stopped on Wednesday. The meeting was supposed to take place at a hotel called Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Asokoro, Abuja.
The event was organised to officially introduce a political group called the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a new team to compete with the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), in the next national elections in 2027.
Everything was already planned and paid for, but on Wednesday morning, just hours before the event, the hotel told the organisers they couldn’t use the hall anymore. The hotel said it was because of an “internal compliance matter,” which means something went wrong inside the hotel, but they didn’t give full details.
A politician and media personality, Dele Momodu, shared a message from the hotel on his Instagram page. The message said the hotel was sorry but couldn’t allow the event to happen anymore.
This last-minute cancellation made many opposition politicians very angry. Dele Momodu said he believed the hotel was pressured by powerful people from the ruling party, APC, who didn’t want the event to take place.
But he also said that the cancellation wouldn’t stop the opposition from continuing their plans to challenge the government in the 2027 elections.
Another person, Salihu Lukman, who helped organise the event, said the hotel had broken the agreement. He said they had signed a contract and paid all the money, so the hotel should have kept their promise and allowed the event to happen.
The event was expected to bring together many big names in Nigerian politics, including:
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
Former Senate President David Mark
Former Governors Aminu Tambuwal, Sule Lamido, Liyel Imoke, and Sam Egwu
Labour Party’s Peter Obi
Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai
Former Minister Rotimi Amaechi
Now, because the hotel cancelled, the unveiling of the ADC as a united political platform for opposition parties couldn’t take place as planned.
