APC Responds to Canadian Court Ruling on Terrorist Group Classification

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected a Canadian Federal Court ruling that classified it, along with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as terrorist organisations. Justice Phuong Ngo delivered the judgment on June 17, 2025, also denying asylum to Douglas Egharevba due to his decade-long affiliation with both parties. The decision upheld an earlier Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) finding that Egharevba was inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

Canadian authorities argued that the APC and PDP were involved in political violence, subversion of democracy, and electoral bloodshed in Nigeria. Court records indicate that Egharevba was a PDP member from 1999 to 2007 before joining the APC until 2017. He moved to Canada in September 2017 and disclosed his political history, which was later flagged by immigration officials citing intelligence linking both parties to electoral violence and politically motivated killings. The IAD highlighted the PDP’s conduct during the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, including ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and killings of opposition supporters. The tribunal concluded that party leadership benefited from the violence and took no steps to stop it, meeting Canada’s definition of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA. Justice Ngo affirmed that mere membership in an organisation linked to terrorism or democratic subversion is sufficient for inadmissibility under paragraph 34(1)(f), even without evidence of personal involvement.

Reacting to the ruling in Abuja, APC National Secretary Senator Ajibola Bashiru described the judgment as baseless and said the party does not seek legitimacy from a foreign court. He argued that the court had no jurisdiction over a Nigerian political party and dismissed the ruling as “obviously delivered from a jaundiced perspective” focused solely on the eligibility of an asylum applicant. Bashiru also criticized what he described as “self-contrived” asylum claims by Nigerians that allow foreign courts to make “unpalatable commentary” about the country.

The APC maintained that it is a credible democratic political organisation and insisted that Canadian law has no extra-territorial authority to determine the status of Nigerian political parties. Bashiru said the party would continue to operate within Nigeria’s democratic framework and rejected any suggestion that its members should be judged under foreign legal standards.