A Canadian court ruling classifying Nigeria’s two main political parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — as terrorist organisations has drawn strong condemnation from both parties and political stakeholders, who say the decision threatens Nigeria’s democratic image and could set a damaging precedent internationally.
The controversy stems from a June 17, 2025 judgment by Justice Phuong Ngo of the Federal Court of Canada, which upheld an earlier Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) decision under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). The IAD denied asylum to Douglas Egharevba, a Nigerian who was a PDP member from 1999 to 2007 before joining the APC until 2017, citing both parties’ alleged roles in political violence, subversion of democracy, and electoral bloodshed.
The ruling referenced incidents during the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, where the PDP was alleged to have engaged in ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and the killing of opposition supporters.
The tribunal said party leadership benefited from the violence and took no steps to stop it, meeting Canada’s legal definition of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA. Justice Ngo ruled that mere membership of an organisation linked to terrorism or democratic subversion is enough to trigger inadmissibility under paragraph 34(1)(f), even without proof of personal involvement.
PDP: Verdict is Misguided and Baseless
PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, said the decision was “misinformed, biased, and lacking evidence,” urging Canadian authorities to dismiss it outright.
“Nigeria and Canada are both democracies… there’s nothing to show that even the malfunctioning APC is a terrorist organisation or the PDP, which is a credible institution,” Osadolor said.
He argued that if there are individuals in government with terrorism links, those individuals should be investigated, not entire political parties.
APC: No Foreign Court Can Declare Our Status
APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, described the ruling as “delivered from a jaundiced perspective” and stressed that the Canadian court had no jurisdiction over Nigerian political parties.
“The APC is a credible democratic political organisation and does not seek legitimacy from a foreign bench and under a law that has no extraterritorial application,” he said, adding that the party was not a party to the asylum case. He criticised “desperate and unpatriotic Nigerians” for enabling what he called “unpalatable commentary by racist judges” through asylum claims.
Soneye: Dangerous Precedent for Global Politics
Former Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, warned that the ruling could have far-reaching consequences for Nigerians abroad who have ever been affiliated with political parties.
“For Nigerians abroad, especially those who have ever held a party membership card, it signals heightened scrutiny, denied visas, and rejected asylum claims not only in Canada but potentially in other Western democracies that may follow suit,” he said.
Soneye stressed that labelling established political parties as terrorist organisations “blurs the vital line between dissent and danger, between governance and extremism,” and could be used to silence opposition, suppress political participation, and erode civil liberties.
