A Canadian Federal Court has refused the asylum application of a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Adam Omozakari Ayonote.

A court verdict dated November 15, 2024 obtained by Peoples Gazette on Tuesday indicated that Mr Ayonote alleged he was shot multiple times by a member of the All Progressive Congress in 2005, claiming it was risky for him to return to Nigeria.

Mr Ayonote further claimed that he fled to Canada in 2018 when he received death threats by APC members, after testifying in a corruption trial against a senior APC official in 2014, alleging APC members attacked him and others at the airport.

However, Justice Whyte Nowak in a ruling described the applicant’s claim as embellished, saying his “evidence was insufficient to connect the 2005 events to APC” founded in 2013.

The court, which restricted the applicant’s claim to subsection 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 [IRPA], dismissed it on the basis of lack of convincing evidence.

“The RAD considered the Applicant’s fear of persecution stemming from the public expression of his political opinions to be a basis for considering the Applicant’s claim under section 96 of the IRPA. However, the RAD rejected the Applicant’s claim under both sections 96 and 97 of the IRPA on the basis of his failure to: (i) provide sufficient credible evidence to establish the incidents of persecution upon which his claim was based; and (ii) to establish a forward-facing risk if he were to return to Nigeria”, the ruling read.

It added, “On the Applicant’s credibility, the RAD considered the presumption of truthfulness was rebutted as: (i) the Applicant failed to connect the 2005 shooting and the 2018 airport attack to the 2014 trial; and (ii) there were significant inconsistencies and omissions in the Applicant’s evidence, which led the RAD to doubt that the three critical events upon which his claim was based had occurred as alleged.”

The court further held that Applicant had not established a forward-facing fear, based on his failure to claim refugee protection at the first opportunity considering his vacations in the United States of America in 2014 and 2015 and his return to Nigeria after both trips despite claiming that he feared for his life.