PDP, APC reject Canadian court judgment labeling parties terrorist organisations

Nigeria’s two dominant political parties — the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress — have condemned a ruling by a Federal Court of Canada classifying both as terrorist organisations.

The June 17, 2025 judgment by Justice Phuong Ngo upheld an earlier decision of the Immigration Appeal Division denying asylum to Nigerian national Douglas Egharevba over his decade-long affiliation with the PDP and APC, recent media reports indicated.

Court records show Egharevba was a PDP member from 1999 to 2007 before joining the APC until 2017, when he relocated to Canada and disclosed his political history.

According to Canadian court filings, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness argued that the two parties were implicated in political violence, democratic subversion, and electoral bloodshed — citing, among other incidents, the PDP’s alleged conduct in the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, which reportedly involved ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and the killing of opposition supporters.

The IAD concluded that party leadership benefited from the 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 affirmed that under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, “mere membership of an organisation linked to terrorism or democratic subversion” could trigger inadmissibility — even without proof of personal involvement.

Verdict ‘Misinformed, Biased, and Lacking Evidence’ – PDP

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.”

‘No Jurisdiction, No Legitimacy from a Foreign Bench’ – APC

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 Nations, 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.