Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must “urgently” take legal steps to prove they are not terrorist organisations, following a recent Canadian court ruling describing them as such.

In a statement yesterday, Falana argued that instead of hurling insults at the Canadian court, the Nigerian political parties should clear their names.

“Instead of abusing the Canadian judge, the APC and PDP should, as a matter of urgency, adopt legal measures to prove that they are not terrorist organisations,” he said.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria linked the Canadian court’s ruling to Nigeria’s history of violent elections, rigging and political impunity, which he said validates the Canadian court’s decision.

“It is common knowledge that both APC and PDP rig elections and announce fake results with the assistance of armed police personnel and soldiers.

Concerned citizens who kick against rigging are violently attacked and killed, while the perpetrators are never prosecuted,” he noted. Falana recalled past remarks by political leaders, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s declaration that the 2003 election was a “do-or-die affair,” and President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 statement urging his supporters to “fight for power, grab it, snatch it, and run with it!”

The human rights lawyer said such rhetoric, coupled with widespread electoral violence, reinforced the Canadian court’s finding that Nigeria’s ruling parties operate through brute force. He further criticised the Nigerian government for what he described as a classbiased application of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act.