A legal standoff is unfolding in Ondo State as the All Progressives Congress insists it will proceed with its state congress scheduled for Tuesday, despite a restraining order issued by the Federal High Court in Akure.

The court order, granted on Monday, halted the planned congress and also nullified the party’s ward and local government congresses held on February 18 and 21, pending the determination of a substantive suit before the court, according to judicial officials.

However, the party’s National Vice Chairman for the South-West, Isaac Kekemeke, said the party had not been formally served with the court order, stressing that no directive had come from the party’s national headquarters to suspend the exercise.

Kekemeke maintained that the APC remains committed to law and order, noting that official communication, not social media reports, guides party actions, and that any valid instruction from the national secretariat would be obeyed.

The restraining order was issued by Justice Toyin Adegoke, who also directed that the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission refrain from taking further steps on the congress until the case is fully heard.

The unfolding dispute has raised broader governance questions about internal party democracy and respect for judicial authority, with analysts warning that defying court orders could undermine public confidence in political institutions.

Despite the legal uncertainty, the Ondo APC leadership says preparations for the congress were approved by the party’s National Working Committee, setting the stage for a tense wait as legal and political processes converge in the days ahead.