Contrary to reports in some Nigerian media outlets, a Canadian Federal Court did not designate Nigeria’s All Progressives Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as terrorist organizations.
A review of the June 25, 2025, judgment by VERILY NEWS confirmed this.
The court, in a 16-page ruling by Justice Phuong Ngo, upheld the Immigration Appeal Division’s (IAD) decision to deny asylum to Nigerian politician Douglas Egharevba, citing his PDP membership from 1999 to 2007 as grounds for inadmissibility under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) for subversion of democratic processes, not terrorism.
The court found the PDP culpable for electoral malpractices, including ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and violence during Nigeria’s 2003 and 2004 elections.
Justice Ngo ruled that membership in an organization engaged in such acts, as per IRPA section 34(1)(f), was sufficient for inadmissibility, dismissing Egharevba’s claim that he was not personally involved.
The judgment referenced the APC only five times, noting Egharevba’s claimed membership from 2007 to 2017, likely a mix-up as the APC was formed in 2013, and made no findings against it.
The court explicitly adopted subversion over terrorism as the basis for its ruling, stating, “Having found that the IAD’s analysis on subversion was reasonable, this is sufficient to dismiss the application for judicial review,”.
Misleading reports, starting with Peoples Gazette and amplified by outlets like Vanguard, Sahara Reporters, TheCable, and DailyPost, falsely claimed the court labeled both parties as terrorist organizations, garnering over 386,000 impressions on X.
The Nigerian government, APC, and PDP condemned these reports, with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling the ruling “erroneous” and APC’s National Secretary Ajibola Basiru labeling the judge an “ignoramus,”.
VERILY NEWS clarified that the judgment focused solely on PDP’s actions in the 2000s, predating APC’s existence. For Nigerians, this underscores the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition’s opportunity to advocate for electoral integrity and accurate reporting in the 2027 election.
What you should know
The Canadian court’s ruling targeted PDP’s past involvement in electoral malpractice, not terrorism.
APC was not implicated, and widespread reports claiming otherwise were inaccurate.
