Canadian Court Labels Nigeria’s APC, PDP Terrorist Groups, Rejects Asylum Bid of Former Member

A Canadian Federal Court has upheld a landmark decision declaring Nigeria’s two dominant political parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — to be terrorist organisations under Canadian immigration law, while refusing asylum to former party member Douglas Egharevba. The ruling, delivered on June 17, 2025, by Justice Phuong Ngo, affirmed an earlier Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) finding that Mr Egharevba was inadmissible to Canada for security reasons.

Mr Egharevba, who joined the PDP in 1999 before defecting to the APC in 2007 and remaining there until 2017, argued that he had never personally engaged in violence or subversion. However, Canadian authorities concluded that his long-standing membership in both parties, during periods marked by widespread electoral violence, linked him to organisations implicated in terrorism and democratic subversion. Justice Ngo wrote that violence and intimidation by party members and officials had been “too widespread and persistent over too great a period of time” for the leadership to be dissociated from it.

Court records show that Mr Egharevba entered Canada in 2017 and openly declared his political history. Canadian immigration officials, relying on intelligence and international reports, flagged both parties for their roles in politically motivated killings, voter intimidation, and electoral manipulation. The IAD found the PDP’s conduct during the 2003 state and 2004 local elections — when it held federal power under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar — to be decisive. Acts attributed to PDP loyalists included ballot stuffing, snatching of ballot boxes, and targeted killings of opposition figures.

The court held that party leaders, who benefited from such violence, failed to take steps to stop it, meeting Canada’s definition of subverting a democratic process under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). It also reaffirmed Canada’s broad legal view of “membership,” noting that mere affiliation with a proscribed group during violent periods is grounds for inadmissibility, even without evidence of personal participation.

Mr Egharevba’s argument that electoral malpractice was common to all Nigerian parties, and that Nigeria’s elections could not be considered democratic by Canadian standards, was rejected. Justice Ngo stated that even flawed elections qualify as democratic processes under Canadian law and that undermining them for political gain constitutes subversion.

The decision cements one of the most direct statements by a foreign court equating Nigeria’s ruling and former ruling parties with terrorist entities under international law. It also reinforces that political party membership alone can justify exclusion from Canada if the organisation is linked to terrorism or anti-democratic acts. With his appeal dismissed, Mr Egharevba now faces likely deportation.