Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have reacted angrily to the ruling of a Federal Court of Canada that classified them as terrorist organisations.

Justice Phuong Ngo was reported to have ruled on June 17, 2025, that the two major parties in Nigeria are terror organisations while denying asylum to one Douglas Egharevba over his decade-long affiliation with both political parties.

The judge dismissed Egharevba’s application for judicial review after the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), found him inadmissible under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, IRPA.

The Canadian Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was said to have argued that the APC and PDP were implicated in political violence, subversion of democracy and electoral bloodshed in Nigeria

The court records also showed that Egharevba was a PDP member from 1999 to 2007 before joining the APC where he remained until 2017. He moved to Canada in September 2017 and disclosed his political history.

Reports said that the Canadian immigration authorities flagged Egharevba’s affiliations, citing intelligence reports linking both parties to electoral violence and politically motivated killings.

The IAD was also quoted to have based its decision largely on the PDP’s conduct during the 2003 state elections and 2004 local government polls, when the party allegedly engaged in ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and killing of opposition supporters.

The tribunal found that the party leadership benefited from the violence and took no action to stop it, meeting Canada’s legal definition of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA.

Justice Ngo affirmed that mere membership in an organisation linked to terrorism or democratic subversion is enough to trigger inadmissibility under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA, even without proof of personal involvement.

APC dismisses judgement

Reacting to the judgement in Abuja on Thursday, APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, said that the party is a credible democratic political organization and does not seek legitimacy from a foreign bench and under a law that has no extra territorial application.

Dismissing the judgement, Bashiru noted that the presiding judge must be an ignoramus. He argued that the APC was not party to the suit, maintaining that “the court has no jurisdiction to determine the status of a Nigerian recognized political party not to talk of declaring it as a terrorist organization.

“The so-called judgment was obviously delivered from a jaundiced perspective and within the narrow confines of determining eligibility for asylum by an applicant.

“The APC is a credible democratic political organization and does not seek legitimacy from a foreign bench and under a law that has no extra territorial application”

Bashiru, however, noted that “it is unfortunate that some desperate and unpatriotic Nigerians will allow the name of the country to be brought to unpalatable commentary by racist judges on account of self-contrived application for asylum.”

Verdict baseless, unjustified – PDP

Equally condemning the court ruling, PDP described it as ‘misinformed, biased, and lacking evidence,’ urging that it be dismissed outright.

PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, speaking exclusively to Vanguard in Abuja, said the report was unfounded and unjustified. He stressed that Nigeria and Canada are both democracies, and such allegations should be handled with caution and precision.

“Nigeria and Canada are both democracies. And I’m sure those who make such statements enjoy their right to freedom of speech. But again, when having freedom of speech, one should be circumspect about unguarded and unnecessary statements,” Osadolor said.

He added that there was no evidence to support the claim that either the PDP or APC could be classified as terrorist organisations.

“There’s nothing to show, there’s nothing on text to show that even the malfunctioning APC is a terrorist organisation or the PDP, which is a credible institution,” he added.

Osadolor acknowledged that while there may be individuals within the APC-led government with questionable ties, it was wrong to generalise and label entire political parties as terrorist groups.

“If they wanted to say that some individuals in the government, particularly the APC government, have traces to terrorism, like we all are aware where the last Boko Haram leader was caught in one of the prominent members of this government’s apartment house, they will have a case. And I would say, yes, those individuals have ties to terrorists and terrorist organisations. But to say an entire political party is a terrorist organisation is wrong,” he said, and urged Canadian authorities to focus on specific allegations against individuals rather than making sweeping accusations.” (Pieced together from reports by The nation and Vanguard)