Canada court upholds classification of Nigeria’s APC, PDP as terrorist groups, denies asylum to ex-member

The Federal Court of Canada has upheld a landmark ruling designating Nigeria’s two dominant political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as terrorist organisations under Canadian immigration law, while rejecting an asylum bid from a former member with ties to both groups.

In a judgment delivered on June 17, 2025, Justice Phuong Ngo dismissed the application for judicial review filed by Douglas Egharevba, who sought to overturn the Immigration Appeal Division’s (IAD) decision declaring him inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

Egharevba, a PDP member between 1999 and 2007 and later an APC member until 2017, moved to Canada in September 2017 and voluntarily disclosed his political affiliations.

However, Canadian immigration authorities flagged his background after intelligence assessments linked both parties to electoral violence, political killings, and subversion of democracy in Nigeria.

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According to court documents cited by the Peoples Gazette, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness argued that the APC and PDP were complicit in orchestrating political unrest, including ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and targeted killings during elections.

The IAD’s findings relied heavily on the PDP’s conduct during the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, when the party allegedly benefitted from — and failed to prevent — widespread electoral violence. This conduct, the tribunal ruled, met the IRPA’s definition of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1).

Justice Ngo affirmed that, under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, mere membership in an organisation connected to terrorism or democratic subversion is sufficient to trigger inadmissibility, even without proof of an individual’s direct involvement in such acts.

Egharevba’s argument that political violence was common across all Nigerian parties was rejected, with the court stressing that even flawed elections are still considered democratic processes under Canadian law, and any actions that undermine them qualify as subversion.

The decision not only cements the APC and PDP’s classification as terrorist entities in Canadian immigration jurisprudence but also closes the door on Egharevba’s asylum claim. Deportation proceedings are now expected to follow.