OTTAWA: A Canadian Federal Court has delivered a landmark ruling classifying Nigeria’s two dominant political parties the (All Progressives Congress APC) and the peoples democraticparty(PDP) as terrorist organisations under Canadian immigration law.
The decision, handed down by Justice Phuong Ngo on June 17, 2025, also upheld the refusal of asylum to Douglas Egharevba, a Nigerian politician who had been a member of both parties for nearly two decades.
Mr. Egharevba joined the PDP at its inception in 1999 and remained a member until 2007, when he defected to the APC.
He stayed with the ruling party until 2017, after which he relocated to Canada, citing political persecution.
However, Canada’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) and the Minister of Public Safety argued that both parties were deeply linked to acts of political violence, electoral malpractice, and democratic subversion.
Evidence included reports of ballot box snatching, voter intimidation, and politically motivated killings particularly during the PDP-led government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Justice Ngo ruled that the parties’ leadership had benefited from, and failed to stop, widespread violence carried out by their members and loyalists.
This met the Canadian legal definition of subversion of a democratic process under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
The court also reaffirmed Canada’s broad interpretation of membership in a proscribed organisation, stressing that personal involvement in violence is not required for inadmissibility mere association during violent periods is enough.
An admission of membership in an organisation is sufficient… regardless of the nature, frequency, duration, or degree of involvement, Justice Ngo stated in the judgment.
Although Mr. Egharevba insisted he had no personal role in political violence, the court concluded that his lengthy affiliation with both parties during periods of documented electoral abuse was grounds for refusal of his asylum claim.
The IAD’s focus on the PDP’s violent conduct during the 2003 and 2004 elections was sufficient and determinative, but the court also acknowledged evidence that political violence in Nigeria is not confined to one party.
Justice Ngo dismissed arguments that Nigeria’s flawed elections should not be considered democratic by Canadian standards, ruling that even imperfect elections fall under Canada’s definition of a democratic process.
The ruling is one of the clearest statements yet from a foreign court equating Nigeria’s ruling and former ruling parties with terrorist entities.
It also reinforces that political party membership abroad can lead to exclusion from Canada if the party is linked to terrorism or democratic subversion regardless of criminal records.
Mr. Egharevba’s asylum bid is now effectively dead, and deportation proceedings are expected to follow.
