Nigeria’s political establishment jolted as Canada labels APC, PDP terrorist groups

Nigeria’s political establishment has been jolted by a Canadian federal court ruling that designates the country’s two largest political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as terrorist organisations under Canadian immigration law, sparking outrage, legal pushback, and warnings of a diplomatic storm.

The June 17, 2025 judgment by Justice Phuong Ngo upheld an earlier decision of the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) denying asylum to Nigerian national Douglas Egharevba over his decade-long membership in the two parties.

Egharevba, a PDP member from 1999 to 2007 before joining the APC until 2017, had sought asylum in Canada after relocating. His disclosure of past political affiliations became central to the case, with Canadian authorities arguing that both parties have been “directly or indirectly complicit” in political violence, democratic subversion, and electoral bloodshed.

Court filings cited alleged incidents, including the PDP’s conduct in the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, reportedly marked by ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and the killing of opposition supporters. The IAD found that party leadership benefited from such violence and took no action to stop it, meeting Canada’s legal definition of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

Justice Ngo further ruled that under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, mere membership of an organisation linked to terrorism or democratic subversion is sufficient grounds for inadmissibility, even without proof of personal involvement in criminal acts.

Fury from PDP and APC

The PDP has rejected the classification as “misinformed, biased, and lacking evidence.”

PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, told Vanguard that the judgment insults Nigeria’s democracy: “Nigeria and Canada are both democracies. There’s nothing on record to show that even the malfunctioning APC is a terrorist organisation, let alone the PDP, which is a credible institution. If they wanted to say some individuals in the APC government have ties to terrorism, they might have a case, but labelling an entire political party is wrong.”

APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, dismissed the ruling as “a baseless, ignorant verdict from a foreign bench with no jurisdiction.”

Speaking to The Nation, he argued: “The court has no authority to determine the status of a Nigerian-recognised political party. This was clearly a narrow decision tied to an asylum claim. It is unfortunate that unpatriotic Nigerians are willing to drag the country’s name into disrepute before racist judges for personal gain.”

‘A dangerous precedent’

Former NNPC spokesperson and political commentator, Olufemi Soneye, warned that the decision risks setting a precedent that could be mirrored by other Western democracies.

“This ruling undermines the legitimacy of Nigeria’s core democratic institutions. Once such a label is applied, it can be used to silence opposition, suppress political participation, and erode civil liberties,” he said.

Soneye also raised concerns about collateral damage to Nigerians abroad:

“Law-abiding youths who have held party membership cards could now face visa denials, asylum rejections, or travel restrictions l, not for acts they committed, but for affiliations that were purely civic.”