The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says it will take legal action against Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments, Asokoro, Abuja, over the alleged refusal to refund N6 million paid for a cancelled venue reservation.
Kabiru Abdullahi, lawyer to the party, said the cancellation caused the party “so much inconvenience and embarrassment”.
According to him, the event was scheduled for July 2, but the hotel cancelled the booking just minutes before midnight on July 1.
The event, organised by People and Passion Consult Limited, was meant to unveil the party’s new coalition.
Abdullahi said the hotel gave “internal compliance” as the reason for the abrupt cancellation.
His words: “A guarantee was given to us on the venue’s availability, with an invoice of the payment made.
“But they waited until less than 24 hours before notifying us of the cancellation, giving us ‘internal compliance’ as the reason without any further explanation.
“We paid you and you gave us an invoice, then we went back to our businesses, preparing for the event, only for them to call some minutes before midnight, less than 24 hours to the event which was supposed to take place at 2 p.m. the next day.”
Abdullahi cited the cancellation message received by the party, which read: “We sincerely regret to inform you that due to an internal compliance matter that has just come to our attention, we are unable to proceed with hosting your scheduled event.
“We are fully aware that the event is less than 24 hours away, and we deeply apologise for the timing and inconvenience this may cause.”
He described the action as a breach of contract, adding that N6,063,000 had already been paid to the hotel, which included refreshments for the guests.
He added that a letter had been sent to Wells Carlton, demanding a full refund, a public apology, and N100 million in damages.
Abdullahi said: “We sent them a letter demanding refund of our money, an apology and the sum of N100 million as damages and if they don’t, we will meet in court, it’s as simple as that.
“They sent us into a frantic moment to look for alternatives, to prepare for the event and had to pay extra money for refreshments.
“The venue couldn’t contain the participants. They caused us so much inconvenience and they also caused us embarrassment.”
