No, Canada did not declare APC and PDP terrorist groups — here’s the truth behind the June 17 court case

By Ephraim Agbo 

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The Headlines vs The Truth

Recently, many headlines and social media posts claimed that a Canadian court “declared” Nigeria’s two biggest political parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — as terrorist organizations.

This claim spread fast because it was shocking. But here’s the truth: Canada’s Federal Court never banned or labelled APC or PDP as terrorist groups. What really happened was much narrower and related to just one person’s asylum case.

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What the Case Was Really About

On June 17, 2025, the Federal Court of Canada reviewed a case involving a Nigerian man named Douglas Egharevba. He had applied to stay in Canada, but the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) ruled that he could not stay because of his past ties to political violence during Nigeria’s elections many years ago.

The man challenged this ruling in court, asking the judge to overturn it. But the judge — Justice Phuong Ngo — said the immigration tribunal’s decision was reasonable and upheld it.

Important: The judge only ruled on this one man’s case. The court did not issue any order declaring the APC or PDP as terrorist organizations.

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How the Confusion Started

The mix-up happened because:

1. The immigration tribunal mentioned “subversion” and “terrorism-related conduct” while describing Nigeria’s history of election violence.
2. Some media outlets picked up these legal words and turned them into explosive headlines.
3. Social media did the rest — the story went viral, but in a misleading way.

So what was originally about one man’s immigration status was wrongly reported as if Canada had blacklisted Nigeria’s main political parties.

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How Nigerians Reacted

• Both the APC and the PDP quickly denied the reports and said the headlines were false.
• Nigerian newspapers and fact-checkers also corrected the record, explaining that the court ruling was about an individual, not the parties themselves.
• Still, the story caused uproar online, with some people believing it and others dismissing it as propaganda.

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Why This Matters

1. Media literacy: This shows why it’s important to read beyond headlines. A small legal ruling became a global political scandal overnight because of poor reporting.
2. Reputation: Even though the court never banned APC or PDP, the rumor hurt their image internationally and gave opponents political ammunition at home.
3. Law vs politics: Canadian courts don’t have the power to suddenly “ban” political parties in Nigeria. The case was strictly about immigration law.

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Bottom Line

• A Canadian man’s asylum appeal was dismissed.
• The Federal Court agreed with the immigration tribunal that his past ties to political violence made him inadmissible.
• The Court did not declare APC or PDP terrorist organizations.

So next time you see a dramatic headline, pause and double-check. The real story is usually less explosive — but more important to understand correctly.