The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly criticised a Canadian court ruling that classified Nigeria’s two main political parties, the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as terrorist organisations.
Describing the decision as “misinformed, biased, and lacking evidence,” the PDP called for the verdict to be dismissed in its entirety.
Politics Nigeria earlier reported that the Federal Court of Canada recently upheld a ruling labelling both parties as terrorist groups while denying asylum to Douglas Egharevba, a former member with a decade-long affiliation to them.
In the judgment delivered on 17 June 2025, Justice Phuong Ngo dismissed Egharevba’s application for judicial review after Canada’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) deemed him inadmissible under the country’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness alleged that the PDP and APC were implicated in political violence, democratic subversion, and electoral bloodshed in Nigeria.
Court documents revealed that Egharevba belonged to the PDP from 1999 to 2007 before joining the APC, where he remained until 2017. He relocated to Canada in September 2017, where he disclosed his political background.
The IAD’s decision reportedly referenced the PDP’s actions during the 2003 state elections and the 2004 local government polls, when the party faced allegations of ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and killing opposition supporters.
PDP Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor said, “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.
“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.
“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.”
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.