APC and PDP have been declared terrorist organizations in a landmark Canadian court judgment.
In a precedent-setting ruling, a Canadian Federal Court has declared Nigeria’s two dominant political parties; the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as terrorist organisations.
The judgment, delivered on June 17, 2025 by Justice Phuong Ngo, upheld an earlier decision by Canada’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), which found former party member Douglas Egharevba inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) for belonging to groups linked to terrorism and the subversion of democracy.
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Canadian authorities accused both the APC and PDP of entrenched involvement in political violence, election rigging, and systematic voter intimidation. The court said senior leaders in both parties not only profited from these acts but also failed to stop them, allowing the harm to persist for years.
Egharevba, who joined the PDP in 1999 and defected to the APC in 2007, insisted he had no personal record of wrongdoing. However, the court ruled that membership during violent and anti-democratic periods was enough to justify inadmissibility regardless of individual conduct.
The IAD’s findings highlighted the PDP’s conduct during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, citing evidence of ballot stuffing, snatching of ballot boxes, voter intimidation, and targeted killings of opposition supporters.
The APC was also cited in Canadian immigration records for benefiting from and perpetuating election-related violence, including the use of armed thugs, coercion of voters, and attacks on political opponents during state-level contests.
Justice Ngo reaffirmed Canada’s broad interpretation of “membership” under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, stating that affiliation with an organisation during periods of violent or subversive activity is enough for inadmissibility even without proof of personal involvement.
Egharevba’s claim that such practices were common to all Nigerian political parties was dismissed. The court ruled that while flawed, Nigeria’s elections are still recognised as democratic under Canadian law and undermining them for political gain amounts to subversion of democracy.
