A United States congressional hearing on global religious freedom has criticised Nigeria’s reported $9m lobbying contract in Washington, with lawmakers warning the deal appeared designed to downplay serious allegations of human rights abuses and religious freedom violations.
The concerns were raised on Wednesday during a joint hearing of the House subcommittee on Africa and the subcommittee on the western hemisphere, titled Defending Religious Freedom Around the World.
The session, according to the Punch, featured testimony from Sam Brownback, a former US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, and Stephen Schneck, a former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The chairman of the House foreign affairs Africa subcommittee, Chris Smith, defended the October 2025 decision to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act, calling it “long overdue” after years of deadly attacks on Christian communities.
Smith said he was alarmed by what he described as efforts to counter the designation through aggressive lobbying.
“I just want to say to my colleagues that I am deeply concerned that Nigeria has hired the lobbying firm, DCI Group, to the tune of $9m, $750,000 a month,” he said.
He added that a Nigerian billionaire had also entered into a separate contract worth $120,000 a month with Washington-based consulting firm Valcour, aimed at influencing Congress and the executive branch.
“They hire these firms; they come up with their very well-written talking points to say nothing to see here,” Smith said, lamenting what he described as the ability of lobbying firms to soften perceptions of persecution and violence.
While Smith framed the CPC designation as necessary pressure on the Nigerian government, the ranking member of the committee, Sara Jacobs, criticised what she described as an overly narrow focus on Christian persecution, warning against simplistic narratives.
Jacobs noted that despite professed concern about religious violence, the US government had cut hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign assistance to Nigeria, including programmes supporting faith leaders and communities affected by conflict in the Middle Belt.
She cited the termination of the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace programme, which she said had helped reduce violence in parts of the country.
“Despite the administration’s apparent interest in addressing conflict and religious tensions in Nigeria, it has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign assistance to Nigeria,” Jacobs said.
“The violence in Nigeria is complex, affecting both Christians and Muslims, and the drivers of this violence are multifaceted and cannot be reduced to a single framing,” she added, warning that “oversimplistic narratives can further inflame religious tensions”.
Jacobs also questioned the impact of recent US military strikes in Sokoto state, suggesting the action was more symbolic than effective.
“It is clear that President Trump only cares about Christians in Nigeria, and his only real action to address this problem, military strikes over Christmas, has not even done anything to materially help those communities,” she said.
Schneck echoed those concerns, arguing that the cost of the strikes likely exceeded funding previously allocated to interfaith and humanitarian programmes, while warning that military action could inadvertently strengthen militant groups.
“It occurs to me that the cost of the Tomahawk missiles that were sent probably exceeded the amount of money that had previously been going to Nigeria to improve interfaith relations and provide humanitarian assistance,” he said.
Schneck added that the strikes could push armed groups into closer cooperation. “I suspect, really, that strikes like that … would likely drive some of these more militant organisations together in greater unity,” he said, describing the intervention as “a mistake”.
Testifying on the wider crisis, Schneck described Nigeria’s insecurity as a volatile mix of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province insurgency, farmer-herder violence, banditry, organised crime and mass displacement, alongside what he called “a corrupt and frankly, a failing government” unable to deliver justice or basic security.
Lawmakers also debated whether the CPC designation carried real weight. Representative Jefferson Shreve questioned its effectiveness, prompting Brownback to argue that such labels must be backed by sanctions and concrete enforcement measures.
“Until you put some bite into it, most of these dictators are just going to thumb their nose at you,” Brownback said, urging the use of Magnitsky-style sanctions and targeted economic penalties.
Schneck agreed, describing CPC listings as largely “name and shame” mechanisms unless tied to consequences.
Although Representative Bill Huizenga said recent US action had helped refocus attention on Nigeria, Brownback expressed deep scepticism about the Nigerian government’s willingness to act, accusing it of abandoning power-sharing traditions and failing to protect vulnerable communities.
“This government has not given us any reason to trust them,” Brownback said.
President Trump has repeatedly claimed that Christians in Nigeria are facing genocide and has previously threatened military action. The Nigerian government has rejected the claims, insisting that while the country faces serious security challenges, there is no genocide.
Despite the tensions, US Africa Command, working with President Bola Tinubu’s administration, carried out airstrikes on 25 December against terrorist targets in Sokoto state.
In January, documents revealed that the federal government had entered into a $9m contract with US lobbying firm DCI Group to communicate Nigeria’s efforts to protect Christians to American officials.
Filings with the US Department of Justice showed that Kaduna-based Aster Legal retained DCI Group on behalf of Nigeria’s national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, under an agreement signed on 17 December 2025.
Separately, documents seen by Agence France-Presse this month revealed that billionaire Matthew Tonlagha signed a six-month contract worth $120,000 a month with Valcour to lobby US media, Congress and the Trump administration “for the purpose of strengthening the bilateral relationship between the US and Nigeria”.
The contract was published on a US government platform where lobbyists are required to register their ties to foreign governments.
Valcour was founded in 2023 by Matt Mowers, a former State Department adviser during Trump’s first term. Tonlagha is vice-president of Tantita Security Services, an oil infrastructure protection firm owned by a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Government Ekpemupolo.
