A Canadian court has classified Nigeria’s two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as terrorist organisations.
This comes as the Federal Court of Canada denied asylum to a Nigerian politician, Douglas Egharevba, over affiliation with the PDP and the APC.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the court ruling, which labelled PDP, APC as terrorist organisations, was delivered on June 17, 2025.
The judgment upheld an immigration tribunal’s ruling, citing the parties’ alleged involvement in political violence and democratic subversion in Nigeria.
The judgment came after Egharevba who joined the PDP at its founding in 1999, left in 2007 when he defected to the APC, staying there until 2017, challenged the decision of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to deny him asylum.
In January 2019, an immigration officer declared Egharevba inadmissible under section 34 of the IRPA, covering terrorism and subversion of democracy.
Following the development, Egharevba challenged the decision at the Immigration Division.
The immigration appeal division initially ruled in his favour in 2020, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove party leadership directly orchestrated killings or intended to undermine democracy.
However, Canada’s immigration ministry appealed with new evidence. On March 25, 2024, the immigration appeal division overturned the decision, concluding that the PDP allegedly engaged in acts of subversion and terrorism, and that mere membership, regardless of personal involvement, triggered inadmissibility.
Ruling also on the matter, Justice Phuong Ngo of the Federal Court of Canada dismissed Egharevba’s judicial review application, affirming that membership in organisations linked to terrorism or subversion triggers inadmissibility, even without personal involvement in violent acts.
The court ruling highlighted the PDP’s actions during the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, where the party allegedly engaged in ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and killings of opposition supporters.
“An admission of membership in an organisation is sufficient… regardless of the nature, frequency, duration or degree of involvement,” Justice Ngo stated.
