The unsteady characteristics of rainfall in recent times can be attributed to alterations in the global climate. This has exposed the environment to hazards of extreme weather events such as droughts and floods thereby posing threat to livelihood especially in developing countries with a low climate adaptation capacity. Among other factors, rainfall variability in recent times has become a complex phenomenon hampering the implementation of suitable adaptation initiatives required in mitigating consequent extreme events. This paper presents an analysis of the fluctuations in the rainfall over Abuja between 1986 and 2016 with special emphases on the magnitude of wetness and dryness of the area within the period of study. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Precipitation Variability Index (PVI) were used to assess the level of wetness and dryness as well as the extent of meteorological drought in a season based on thirty one year rainfall data from the Abuja station of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. The results obtained indicated that rainfall is highly variable in Abuja ranging from least to moderate as well as high variability. The study shows high rainfall variability throughout the period under review with more dryness over the last decade which was more pronounced in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Findings from this paper will be helpful in developing tools for regular warnings against meteorological drought with the possibility of massive water intervention especially for crop management amongst other mitigation and adaptation practices.

Keywords : Climate Change, Rainfall Variability, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies.