Canada Blacklists Nigeria’s APC, PDP as Terrorist Organisations

The Federal Court of Canada has upheld a decision designating Nigeria’s two dominant political parties—the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—as terrorist organisations.

This ruling has led to the rejection of an asylum request by Douglas Egharevba, a former member of both parties, due to his long-standing involvement with them.

In a judgment delivered on June 17, 2025, Justice Phuong Ngo dismissed Egharevba’s judicial review application. The court backed the Immigration Appeal Division’s earlier decision declaring him inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

According to Peoples Gazette, the Canadian Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness had submitted that the APC and PDP were involved in electoral violence, democratic subversion, and politically motivated bloodshed in Nigeria.

Court records indicate that Egharevba was affiliated with the PDP from 1999 until 2007, after which he joined the APC and remained active until his relocation to Canada in September 2017, where he disclosed his political background.

However, Canadian immigration officials raised concerns based on intelligence linking both parties to acts of electoral violence and killings.

The Immigration Appeal Division’s decision cited the PDP’s alleged actions during the 2003 state elections and the 2004 local government polls, which reportedly involved voter intimidation, ballot manipulation, and violent suppression of opposition.

The tribunal concluded that party leadership not only failed to prevent these actions but also benefited from them—qualifying as democratic subversion under section 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA.

Justice Ngo ruled that under section 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, an individual can be deemed inadmissible simply for belonging to an organization involved in terrorism or undermining democracy, even without direct evidence of personal participation in such acts.

Egharevba’s argument—that political violence is a systemic issue across all Nigerian parties—was rejected. The court emphasized that even imperfect elections in Nigeria are considered part of a democratic process under Canadian law, and attempts to undermine them meet the threshold for subversion.

With the court’s ruling, Egharevba’s bid for asylum has been conclusively denied, and deportation proceedings are expected to follow.