BREAKING: APC Announces Fresh State Congress In Ondo Wednesday

According to reports monitored by Ireporter Online, the congress will take place at the International Culture and Event Centre (The Dome) in Akure, where delegates from the 18 local government areas of the state are expected to participate in the exercise.

Information gathered indicates that the decision to organise another congress was communicated in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The correspondence was jointly signed by the party’s National Chairman, Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, and National Secretary, Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru.

The party explained that the move followed an order issued by the Federal High Court of Nigeria sitting in Akure, which restrained both the APC and INEC from conducting the previously scheduled congress. However, party officials noted that the issues responsible for the court injunction had since been resolved through internal mechanisms, paving the way for the rescheduled exercise.

In the communication to the electoral commission, the APC recalled that the court had earlier issued an ex-parte order on March 2, 2026, preventing the conduct of the state congress initially fixed for March 3, 2026. The party stated that after engaging relevant stakeholders and resolving the dispute, it fixed March 11, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. as the new date for the congress at The Dome in Akure.

Efforts to obtain comments from the party’s former spokesman in the state, Alex Kalejaye, were unsuccessful as calls and messages sent to him were not immediately returned.

However, a party chieftain who spoke anonymously confirmed that invitations had already been extended to party leaders across the state to participate in the exercise. The source said stakeholders from different local government areas were expected to attend the congress, which is aimed at producing new executives to manage the affairs of the party in the state.

The APC also expressed regret over any inconvenience the change of date might cause and urged INEC to take note of the development.

The latest development comes amid ongoing legal disputes surrounding the conduct of the party’s congresses in the state. The court had earlier directed parties involved in the matter to maintain the status quo pending further hearing.

Justice Toyin Adegoke had previously issued an interim order restraining INEC from recognising or validating the ward and local government congresses reportedly conducted by the APC in the state. The order followed a Motion Ex-Parte filed by aggrieved members of the party.

The suit, filed by Lawrence Oladimeji Adebayo and seven other applicants, was instituted on behalf of themselves and more than 7,000 APC members in Ondo State who claimed they were excluded from the party’s 2026 ward and local government congresses. Both INEC and the APC were listed as respondents in the case.

The applicants are challenging the ward congress held on February 18, 2026, and the local government congress conducted on February 21, 2026, while also opposing the state congress earlier scheduled for March 3.

Despite the earlier court order, the party reportedly proceeded with a state congress in which Babatunde Kolawole, Special Adviser to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Legislative Matters and Party Affairs, emerged as the party’s chairman in the state.