APC, PDP fume as Canadian court tags them ‘terrorist organisations’

A Federal Court in the Ottawa, Ontario district of Canada, has labelled the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and major opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as “terrorist organisations” who engage in “ballot box snatching, intimidation, and violence”.

The characterisation was contained in a judgment on an application for judicial review.

The previous ruling on a refugee status case was handed by the Immigration Appeal Division [IAD] on March 25, 2024.

Douglas Egharevba, the applicant who is Nigerian, had appealed the decision not to grant him asylum on the grounds that he was a member of the PDP and APC at different times.

In January 2019, an immigration officer declared that the applicant was inadmissible to Canada under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) as it relates to paragraphs 34(1)(b.1) and 34(1)(c) for “being a member of an organization that has engaged in acts of subversion against a democratic government, institution, or process and engaged in terrorism, based on his membership with the PDP”.

The applicant had challenged his inadmissibility before the immigration department.

He also argued that he never participated in the violence and manipulation that mars elections in Nigeria, insisting he had never personally engaged in terrorism or subversion.

However, Justice Ngo, the judge, disagreed in a judgment delivered on June 17, 2025.

“The Applicant most likely downplayed his knowledge and the seriousness of political violence committed by the parties in which he was involved,” the judgment reads.

“The IAD reversed the ID’s decision and found that the evidence was established on reasonable grounds to believe that, pursuant to paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, the Applicant was a member of an organization that engages, has engaged, or will engage in acts of subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in Canada.

“The Applicant is a citizen of Nigeria. In September 2017, the Applicant entered Canada and initiated an inland refugee claim.

“The Applicant submitted a Background Declaration Form stating that he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] of Nigeria from December 1999 until December 2007, and a member of the All Progressives Congress [APC] party of Nigeria from December 2007 until May 2017.

“As a result of this information, he was referred to a Canadian Border Services Agency [CBSA] officer to determine whether he was admissible to Canada.

“In September 2018, the Applicant confirmed his membership in the PDP and APC in an interview with the CBSA officer.”

The court ruled that “the PDP were perpetrators of political violence, intimidation, and subversion and were protected as the PDP was the governing party from 1999 onwards”.

“The PDP conducted unlawful acts such as ballot-stuffing, ballot box snatching, intimidation, violence, and murder of opposition supporters and candidates in the Elections,” it added.

The court thereafter dismissed the application for a judicial review of the previous judgment as filed by Egharevba.

“Given the above, the Decision is not unreasonable and the application for judicial review must therefore be dismissed,” the judge ruled.

 

Parties react 

Meanwhile, the PDP described the classification as “misinformed, biased, and lacking evidence,” calling for it to be dismissed outright.

According to Vanguard on Thursday, PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, stated, “Nigeria and Canada are both democracies. And I’m sure those who make such statements enjoy their right to freedom of speech.

“But again, when having freedom of speech, one should be circumspect about unguarded and unnecessary statements. There’s nothing to show, there’s nothing on text to show that even the malfunctioning APC is a terrorist organisation or the PDP, which is a credible institution.”

Osadolor added: “If they wanted to say that some individuals in the government, particularly the APC government, have traces to terrorism… they will have a case. But to say an entire political party is a terrorist organisation is wrong.”

Former NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye warned of the precedent the ruling could set: “If democratic nations don’t push back on this kind of overreach, they may one day find their own politics on trial in a foreign court.”

He said the decision signals “heightened scrutiny, denied visas, and rejected asylum claims… not only in Canada but potentially in other Western democracies that may follow suit.”

Soneye cautioned that labeling established political parties as terrorist groups “undermines their legitimacy at home and abroad… Once such a label is applied, it can be wielded… to silence opposition, suppress political participation, and erode civil liberties.”

Similarly, the APC dismissed the ruling as baseless, with its National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, describing the presiding judge as “an ignoramus” and insisting the party was “a credible democratic political organization” that “does not seek legitimacy from a foreign bench and under a law that has no extra territorial application.”

Bashiru, according to The Nation, argued, “The court has no jurisdiction to determine the status of a Nigerian recognised political party not to talk of declaring it as a terrorist organization… The so-called judgment was obviously delivered from a jaundiced perspective and within the narrow confines of determining eligibility for asylum by an applicant.”

He further lamented: “It is unfortunate that some desperate and unpatriotic Nigerians will allow the name of the country to be brought to unpalatable commentary by racist judges on account of self contrived application for asylum.”

Both parties have urged Canadian authorities to focus on individual accountability rather than sweeping classifications that, in their view, threaten diplomatic relations and risk distorting Nigeria’s democratic image abroad.