The management of Amadeo Event Centre in Enugu State has denied allegations that it prevented the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) from using its facility for a booked event.

In a statement on Thursday, the company described the allegation as false.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the NDC in Enugu State had alleged that Governor Peter Mbah blocked the opposition party from holding the event at the facility on Thursday.

Governor Mbah has since denied the allegations, maintaining that the Amadeo Event Centre was a private facility and  it was unlikely for him to order a private business to block the opposition party from holding their event.

What actually happened

Reacting in the Thursday statement, the company clarified that the Registrar of the Nigeria Institute of Healthcare Givers and Medical Social Work Practitioners, Sabastine Ezeh, had booked the facility on 7 October and stated in the agreement that the rental was for a “National Meeting and Conference.”

Mr Ezeh, according to the statement, said the conference was scheduled for 15 October 2026, but requested cancellation of the event and refund of the payment on 13 October.

The registrar later withdrew the cancellation on the grounds that the association wanted to postpone, rather than cancel.

“On October 23, 2026, the Client confirmed October 29, 2026, and we agreed that decoration would start on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.

“On the morning of October 28, 2026, the decoration materials that were brought were for a political party and had nothing to do with the association,” the company said.

“This clearly violated the contract for use of the place that we signed with the client.”

The event centre stressed that Clause 17 of the agreement which the client signed, provides for the right to stop any event not properly or reasonably conducted in line with the agreement.

“It was on the basis of this violation that the client was notified of the rescission of the right of use,” the firm explained.

“Upon receiving the notice of cancellation, Enugu State NDC officials and candidates entered our premises with security details.

“We were taken aback by the change of the client from the association to an NDC political rally,” it added.

Why we allowed NDC hold the event despite violation

The Amadeo Event Centre explained that it later allowed the NDC to use the facility despite the contractual violation.

“Despite the contractual violation, we allowed the event to proceed to forestall a breach of peace, after the organisers informed us it would now be used as a youth town hall meeting with Mr Peter Obi,” it said.

Enugu govt never asked us to do anything

The company maintained that it is not partisan and that its policy from inception has been to decline the use of the facility for political purposes.

“We did not request or seek police to deter the event. Rather, the policemen seen in trending videos were escorts for some of the political aspirants who came to the event centre after receiving the notice of cancellation,” it said.

The firm stressed that the Enugu State Government was never part of its decision to cancel the booking for contractual violation.

“Management received no instruction, directly or indirectly, from any government official as this was purely a contractual matter,” it stated.

“This whole event has been distorted and viewed through a partisan perspective because of the current political season.”