Canadian court rejects PDP politician’s asylum request for making 'overcooked' claims

A Canadian court sitting in Toronto has rejected the asylum request filed by one Omozakari Ayonote, a Nigerian politician and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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

Court documents revealed that he told RPD that he would be persecuted by supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) if forced to return to Nigeria.

The PDP member claimed that he was attacked in 2015 by APC supporters, shot several times and nearly lost his life.

At the same time, Ayonote claimed to have received death threats on his phones from APC members in 2014 after testifying in the corruption trial of a party official, an event which forced his family to flee to Canada while he stayed back in Nigeria because he “had to take care of his business.”

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

However, Ayonote's request was declined on the grounds that he failed to establish the core of his claim.

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

“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.

“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," the court document reads.

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Unsatisfied with the outcome, Ayonote approached the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD).

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

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

In a judgement delivered on November 15, 2024, the presiding judge, Whyte Nowak, agreed with RAD that Ayonote’s story was riddled with speculation.

The presiding judge also held that the Nigerian 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.

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