The Canadian Federal Court has upheld a landmark immigration tribunal decision classifying Nigeria’s two dominant political parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — as terrorist organisations, according to People’s Gazette.
In a June 17, 2025 judgment obtained by Peoples Gazette, Justice Phuong Ngo dismissed an application for judicial review by former party member Douglas Egharevba, whose asylum claim was rejected over his decade-long affiliation with both parties.
Canada’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) had found Mr Egharevba inadmissible under security provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, siding with the Minister of Public Safety’s argument that the PDP and APC were deeply implicated in political violence, subversion of democracy, and electoral bloodshed.
Mr Egharevba, a PDP founding member in 1999 who defected to the APC in 2007 before leaving in 2017, denied any personal involvement in violence or subversion. However, Justice Ngo ruled that political violence linked to PDP officials was “too widespread and persistent” to separate the party’s leadership from the actions of its members.
Court records show Mr Egharevba arrived in Canada in September 2017, where his political background — confirmed in questioning by the Canada Border Services Agency — triggered scrutiny. Intelligence and international reports cited by Canadian authorities linked both parties to electoral malpractice and politically motivated killings.
While the IAD’s ruling relied heavily on the PDP’s record during the 2003 and 2004 elections, the court noted that political violence was a recurring feature across Nigeria’s political landscape.
