Femi Falana warns that a Canadian court ruling declaring APC and PDP terrorist groups may trigger global stigma, deportations, and visa bans
Femi Falana, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has raised concerns over a Canadian court ruling that classified Nigeria’s two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as terrorist organisations.
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In a strongly worded statement titled “Beyond Judicial Recognition of APC and PDP as Terrorist Societies,” Falana argued that the implications of Justice Phuong Ngo’s ruling at the Federal Court of Canada extend far beyond semantics and could cause severe diplomatic and immigration consequences for Nigerians.
The case stemmed from the asylum appeal of a Nigerian, Douglas Egharevba, who claimed political persecution.
While dismissing his plea, the Canadian court held that the APC and PDP engaged in acts akin to terrorism through their conduct during elections.
Falana warned that if the judgment were to be recognised in other countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, or France, it could lead to visa denials, deportations, and revoked immigration status for members of both parties and possibly ordinary Nigerians by association.
“It is common knowledge,” Falana said, “that both APC and PDP rig elections and announce fake results with the aid of armed thugs, police, and soldiers.
Citizens who resist such malpractice are often attacked and sometimes killed, yet their murderers are never prosecuted.”
He criticised the government’s selective use of Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention) Act, accusing authorities of charging unarmed protesters including #EndHardship demonstrators with terrorism, while politicians implicated in corruption or electoral violence often escape justice.
Falana traced Nigeria’s electoral violence to political leaders’ incendiary rhetoric, citing past remarks by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as President Bola Tinubu’s controversial call to “grab, snatch, and run” with power in 2023.
He argued that Nigeria’s political elite have fostered a culture of impunity, pointing to the recent by-election marred by thuggery, including the arrest of 288 suspected thugs in Kano State.
“Yet, as in the past, they are unlikely to be prosecuted in a country where impunity reigns,” he lamented.
Falana urged APC and PDP to urgently reform their practices in line with Nigeria’s constitution and electoral laws, while calling on judges to sanction election riggers without fear or favour.
He also advised the Federal Government to work with immigration lawyers to challenge the broader fallout of the Canadian judgment.
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“The collateral damage of this judgment will certainly affect other citizens since the government of their homeland has been sponsored by two terrorist political parties,” Falana concluded.
