Ayodeji Ologun

In the aftermath of the turbulent events of Tuesday, 17th February 2026, the political structure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has been profoundly unsettled. What occurred at the APC State Secretariat in Akure transcended the boundaries of a mere intra-party disagreement. By every constitutional and democratic standard, it amounted to a grave assault on party discipline, institutional decorum, and the rule of law.
It is now a fact that the embattled APC State Chairman, Engr. Ade Adetimehin, together with other respected stakeholders, were publicly humiliated and physically assaulted within the premises that ought to embody unity, dialogue, and democratic engagement. The invasion and desecration of the party secretariat by individuals reportedly identified as thugs and hoodlums represent a serious breach of political ethics and a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of association as guaranteed under Nigeria’s constitutional framework.
Even more troubling is the alleged involvement and implicit endorsement of these actions by one of the party leaders in the state. His presence at the Secretariat thereafter, where he presided over what was described as a ‘Stakeholders Meeting,’ has generated significant legal and moral concerns. A critical question arises: can a meeting convened in the shadow of violence, and marked by the conspicuous exclusion of key party leaders, legitimately be described as a stakeholders’ assembly? Or was it a selective gathering designed to create an appearance of legitimacy for an otherwise controversial process?

In constitutional and political terms, stakeholders are not transient loyalists or handpicked associates. They are individuals whose service, sacrifices, and offices have shaped the party’s evolution and sustained its institutional integrity. It is therefore necessary to question whether the following categories of party leaders were deliberately sidelined:

Former and serving Senators; former and serving members of the House of Representatives; former cabinet members; former and serving ministers; members of the APC Elders’ Forum.

Are these distinguished figures no longer regarded as custodians of the party’s collective heritage and institutional memory? Has their exclusion been justified under a questionable assertion of executive dominance within party affairs? The optics are deeply concerning, and the implications are even more profound.

Reports indicate that those prominently present at the meeting included Hon. (Asiwaju) Ifedayo Abegunde (ABENA) and Rt. Hon. Oladiji Olamide (LANDMARK), Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly. However, the noticeable absence of a wide range of established party leaders rendered the meeting visibly unbalanced. Observers noted an air of unease, suggesting that the gathering lacked the inclusiveness and authority expected of a genuine stakeholders’ forum.

Equally remarkable was the appointment of Barr. Tolulope Babaleye as spokesman for the North Senatorial District at the meeting—a development that has attracted criticism and skepticism. To many, this reinforced the perception that the assembly was less a broad-based consultative forum and more a carefully curated congregation of select allies.

Consequently, by objective standards of internal democracy and political propriety, the event risks being remembered not as an APC Stakeholders Meeting, but as what critics have described as a ‘Lucky Family Meeting.’ Though satirical in tone, the label reflects the growing sentiment that personal affiliations, rather than institutional representation, defined the composition of the gathering.

In any constitutional democracy, political parties are expected to reflect internally the democratic principles they advocate publicly. Violence, exclusion, and unilateral decision-making are fundamentally inconsistent with those principles. If the APC in Ondo State is to safeguard its credibility, unity, and electoral prospects, it must ensure a transparent review of the events of February 17th, reaffirm the supremacy of its constitution, and recommit itself to inclusiveness, due process, and respect for democratic norms.

For in politics, as in law, legitimacy does not emanate from power alone; it is derived from consensus, participation, and steadfast adherence to constitutional order.
More disturbing was the majestic and triumphant entry of one of the party leaders to the Party Secretariat in the company of the thugs who had hitherto openly humiliated the incumbent Party State Chairman, Engr. Ade Adetimehin.
More worrisome was the unsavoury, seemingly endorsement speech of a party leader who apparently failed to condemn the daylight invasion of the Secretariat or sympathetic to the fate of the Party State Chairman and scores of victims of his motivated attack on the vulnerable.
In a more poetic candour and manner, the party leader spoke like Mark Antony at the burial site of Julius Caesar and continued to mock Engr. Adetimehin.

*Dr Ologun is the Director of Communications and Strategy, Asiwaju Mandate Group.