The Federal Court of Canada has upheld a ruling that classifies Nigeria’s two dominant political parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — as terrorist organisations.
The decision came while rejecting the asylum bid of Douglas Egharevba, a former member of both parties, over his decade-long affiliation.
In a judgment delivered on June 17, 2025, Justice Phuong Ngo dismissed Egharevba’s application for judicial review, siding with the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) that found him inadmissible under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
Canadian authorities argued that both APC and PDP have been implicated in political violence, electoral bloodshed, and subversion of democracy. Court records showed Egharevba was a PDP member from 1999 to 2007, then joined APC until 2017 before relocating to Canada.
The IAD cited the PDP’s conduct during the 2003 state and 2004 local government elections — including alleged ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and killings of opposition supporters — as meeting Canada’s legal threshold for democratic subversion.
Justice Ngo ruled that mere membership in an organisation linked to terrorism or subversion is sufficient grounds for inadmissibility under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, even without proof of direct involvement.
Egharevba’s claim that political violence was widespread across Nigerian parties was dismissed, with the court affirming that even flawed elections still constitute a democratic process under Canadian law.
The decision ends his asylum claim, with deportation proceedings expected to follow.