The All Progressives Congress in Ondo State is facing backlash after conducting its state congress despite a subsisting court order suspending the exercise.
A youth organisation, Oodua Progressive Youth League, condemned the move and appealed to the party’s national leadership to urgently address the unfolding crisis.
The controversy erupted shortly after the party produced a new set of state executives at the congress held on Wednesday.
Prior to the event, the Federal High Court sitting in Akure had issued an order stopping the congress from taking place.
Justice Toyin Adegoke, in an ex parte application, restrained both the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission from proceeding with the exercise pending the resolution of a substantive suit.
Notwithstanding the directive, the congress went ahead, drawing criticism from stakeholders who described the action as a challenge to judicial authority.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the group’s General Secretary, Wale Abdulwaheed, stressed that obedience to court rulings was essential to sustaining democratic values and public trust.
He cautioned that failure to resolve the dispute could spark extended litigation and deepen internal rifts, as reports also emerged of violence during earlier ward congresses in Idanre Local Government Area, where two fatalities were allegedly recorded.
