The United States Congress has moved to withhold foreign assistance to Nigeria over what lawmakers describe as the killing of Christians, as the Federal Government faces scrutiny over its lobbying efforts in Washington.
The House Appropriations Committee this week approved its Fiscal Year 2027 State Department funding bill which, in Section 7042, explicitly states that 50 percent of all funds appropriated for assistance to the central Government of Nigeria may not be released until the U.S. Secretary of State certifies to Congress that Nigeria is taking effective steps to prevent and respond to violence and hold perpetrators accountable.
The bill also requires Nigeria to prioritise resources for victims, including internally displaced persons, actively facilitate the safe return and reconstruction of communities impacted by the violence, and allocate sufficient resources to address those conditions.
The bill goes further, directing that funds made available for Nigeria be used on a cost-matching basis to support atrocities prevention including through early warning systems, the advancement of religious freedom, investigations and prosecutions of violence committed by Fulani militia groups, jihadist terror groups and criminal gangs, and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to communities affected by conflict.
Nigeria is also specifically named among countries subject to country notification requirements, meaning no funds may be spent on Nigeria without going through the formal notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations.
The move comes as the Federal administration is under growing scrutiny over a $9 million lobbying contract with Washington-based DCI Group, facilitated by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu through a Kaduna-based law firm, Aster Legal, at $750,000 per month, one of the highest lobbying transactions ever signed by an African government.
Rather than easing congressional pressure, the lobbying effort coincided with lawmakers merging three separate Nigeria-related bills into a single piece of legislation, the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026.
The political pressure intensified following the Easter Sunday attack in which armed terrorists marched into the farm village of Ariko, about 60 miles north of Abuja, during a church service, killing seven men and abducting 68 worshippers, of whom 37 remain in captivity, at least 33 of them women.
Rep. Moore, who has led the congressional investigation at President Trump’s direction, was blunt. “This genocide is why I fought to ensure that the State Department funding bill makes U.S. security assistance contingent on the Nigerian government stopping the slaughter of its Christian citizens. Abuja is not meeting that standard,” he said.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also recommended Nigeria’s redesignation as a Country of Particular Concern for 2026, the 17th such recommendation, potentially making the current administration the only Nigerian government to receive two back-to-back CPC designations.
The Federal government has consistently rejected the genocide framing, insisting Nigeria faces broader security challenges that cannot be reduced to religious persecution alone.
The bill must still pass a full House floor vote before it can be signed into law.
