Kaduna government denies sealing Arewa House ahead of Atiku’s meeting with northern stakeholders

The Kaduna State Government has denied claims that it sealed Arewa House in Kaduna ahead of a planned consultation by African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar with northern stakeholders, calling the allegation "totally untrue", according to Leadership and Peoples Gazette.

The row began when the ADC presidential campaign council raised the alarm in a statement on Wednesday. Its spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, said the campaign had proposed Arewa House as the venue for the consultation on Thursday and that "the APC government decided to seal the building". The statement quoted Atiku as saying the party would not be intimidated, and referred to his campaign flag-off in Sokoto, where it said the ruling party had also tried to frustrate the event. The ADC said it held President Bola Tinubu and the APC politically responsible for what it called a pattern of obstruction.

Kaduna's Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Ahmed Maiyaki, rejected the claim. He said the state government had no involvement in any sealing of the facility and that Arewa House is not state property. "It is the property of the Federal Government, owned by Ahmadu Bello University," he said.

Maiyaki said the state had no business with the former vice president's event or anything being planned there. "We have no hand in whatever they are planning," he said. He added that Kaduna State remains open to opposition political activities, provided that events held in state-owned properties follow the established procedures.

The commissioner described the allegation as a deliberate attempt to damage the reputation of Governor Uba Sani, whom he called a democrat with decades of civil society and pro-democracy work behind him. "If they are looking for a scapegoat, they should look elsewhere," he said. "But in Kaduna, we cannot be harassed into such fabricated lies."

Arewa House, a historic building in Kaduna that houses a centre for historical documentation and research, is widely seen as part of the heritage of northern Nigeria, which is why the claim drew quick reactions. The reports reviewed do not include a statement from Ahmadu Bello University or the Federal Government on whether the building was closed, or why.

The two sides are describing the same building in opposite ways: the opposition says it was sealed to stop a political meeting, while the state government says it had nothing to do with it. Until the university or the federal authorities speak, the question of who, if anyone, closed the premises remains open.

With the 2027 campaign in full swing, disputes over venues have become a regular feature of the contest between the parties.