By Lawrence Agbo
The management of De Rainbow Event Centre has denied claims that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, threatened to revoke its operational licence for hosting the national convention of the African Democratic Congress.
The clarification was made on Thursday following reports that the venue faced pressure to cancel the party’s convention held on April 14 in Abuja.
Speaking at a press conference, the Director of the event centre, Martina K. Yusuf, described the reports as false and said no such threat came from Wike or any government agency.
According to her, the management never received any message suggesting that the centre would lose its licence for allowing the ADC to use the facility.
“We wish to categorically state that De Rainbow Event Marquee did not receive any threat of licence revocation from the Honourable Minister of the FCT or from any other person or government institution,” she said.
Yusuf added that the reports were not authorised by the management and were circulated without proper verification, creating unnecessary confusion around the venue’s operations.
“These reports were not authorised by us and, to the best of our knowledge, are untrue. They appear to have been circulated without verification.”
She explained that the statement became necessary because several clients had expressed concerns about whether their bookings would still hold amid the controversy.
The controversy began after a faction of the ADC led by former Senate President David Mark claimed the venue was being pressured to withdraw from hosting the convention.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, had alleged that officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority and the FCT minister were behind threats that the centre could lose its licence if the event went ahead.
Despite the claim, the ADC proceeded with the convention, insisting that all payments had been made and a formal agreement had already been reached with the venue.
