Political tension in Ondo State took another dramatic turn this week as a Federal High Court in Akure put the brakes on the All Progressives Congress’s planned state congress , and influential party elders responded by praising that judicial intervention as a necessary check on internal party conflict. The court, presided over by Justice Toyin Bolaji Adegoke, granted an ex parte interim injunction restraining both the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from proceeding with the state congress that had been slated to take place on March 3 after legal challenges were filed by thousands of aggrieved party members. The injunction also stopped the party from recognising or validating disputed ward and local government congresses earlier held in February, citing concerns about irregularities and fairness.
For the Ondo APC elders, the judiciary’s ruling wasn’t just a procedural pause ,it was a lifeline for the party’s internal democracy. Leaders from across the party’s older guard in the state publicly applauded the court’s willingness to uphold legal norms and protect the rights of all members, arguing that the decision helped prevent a rushed or flawed leadership restructuring. In their view, allowing the congress to go on amid deep divisions risked exacerbating factional disputes and undermining trust in the party’s organisational processes.
These comments came against a backdrop of rising tensions within the Ondo APC, where the fallout from controversial ward congresses and leadership battles has spilled into public view. Some party members had accused the state leadership of trying to fast-track congresses without fully resolving grievances from earlier stages of the process, prompting the high court challenge by thousands of members represented by senior lawyers.
By siding with the judiciary’s cautionary approach, the elders are essentially urging patience and legal propriety over political haste. Their praise reflects a broader concern among veteran party figures that long-term stability and unity are more important than immediate outcomes, especially in a party that holds national power and whose internal cohesion directly affects governance and electoral prospects.
However, not all developments have gone in the same direction. Despite the court’s order, some state party officials reportedly went ahead with their own version of the congress in sections of Akure ,even electing new leaders , asserting that they weren’t officially served with the injunction and that party unity demanded moving forward. Meanwhile, INEC explained its absence from the exercise by pointing to the lack of directives and the existing court order restraining the process.
The situation puts the APC in Ondo at a crossroads: respect the judiciary’s demand to resolve legal questions first, or risk deeper factional rifts by pressing on with political exercises that some feel are premature. With a new hearing scheduled for later this month and national party figures likely to weigh in, the outcome could have ripples well beyond Ondo’s borders , influencing how internal disputes are managed in one of Nigeria’s most influential political parties.
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