Why Canada denies asylum to Nigerian politician

A Canadian court in Toronto has declined the asylum request of Adams Omozakari Ayonote, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ayonote had claimed that he was attacked by supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2005.

Whyte Nowak, the presiding judge, delivered the judgment on November 15, 2024.

Ayonote had filed refugee claims before the Refugee Protection Division (RPD), an immigration board in Canada that entertains and decides claims for refugee protection.

According to court documents, Ayonote told RPD that he would be persecuted by APC supporters if forced to return to Nigeria.

Ayonote claimed that he was shot several times in 2005 and nearly lost his life.

He also claimed that in 2014, death threats from APC members were sent to his phones after he testified in the corruption trial of a party official.

After the 2014 incident, Ayonote’s family reportedly fled to Canada, while he stayed back in Nigeria because he “had to take care of his business”.

He added that he fled to Canada in 2018 after he and an unnamed PDP senator were attacked by APC supporters at the airport.

The RPD declined Ayonote’s refugee claims.

“The RPD denied the Applicant’s claim on the basis that he had failed to credibly establish the core of his claim,” the court document reads.

“It found insufficient evidence to connect the events of 2005 to the APC, and it considered the Applicant to have embellished the events of 2014.

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“The RPD found the Applicant’s vacations to the United States in 2014 and 2015 and his return to Nigeria after each trip to be inconsistent with the Applicant’s stated fear of persecution in Nigeria.”

Displeased with the decision, Ayonote approached the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD).

The RAD dismissed the appeal on the basis that the applicant failed to “establish a forward-facing risk if he were to return to Nigeria”.

The RAD also stated that the Nigerian also failed to “provide sufficient credible evidence to establish the incidents of persecution upon which his claim was based”.

The APC was formed on February 6, 2013 from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Delivering the ruling, Nowak agreed with RAD that Ayonote’s story was riddled with speculation.

The presiding judge also held that the PDP member failed to reasonably explain “why he would appear at a public gathering in 2018 despite claiming to have been living in hiding for fear of his life”.

“Having reviewed the record and considered the parties’ written and oral submissions and having taken into account the applicable law, I find that the Applicant has failed to show that the RAD Decision is unreasonable,” the judge said.

“Accordingly, this application for judicial review is dismissed.”