A United States congressional hearing on global religious freedom has raised concerns over Nigeria’s reported $9 million lobbying contract in Washington. Lawmakers warned that the deal seems aimed at downplaying serious human rights and religious freedom violations in the country.
The issues were highlighted on Wednesday during a joint session of the House Subcommittee on Africa and the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, titled “Defending Religious Freedom Around the World.”
The hearing featured testimony from former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and ex-chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Dr. Stephen Schneck.
Chris Smith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, defended the October 2025 decision to classify Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. He described the designation as “long overdue” following years of deadly attacks on Christian communities.
Smith also voiced concern over efforts to counter the CPC label through lobbying. He said, “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.
“And a Nigerian billionaire has entered into a $120,000-a-month contract with Washington-based consulting firm Valcour, to influence 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 and unfortunately, how these firms are just so good at advocating for their client for religious freedom.”
While Smith emphasized that the CPC designation was necessary to pressure Nigeria, Ranking Member Sara Jacobs criticised what she described as a narrow focus on Christian persecution.
Jacobs pointed out that, despite expressed concern about religious violence, the US had cut hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to Nigeria, including programmes supporting faith leaders and conflict-affected communities. She highlighted the termination of the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace programme, which had helped reduce violence in certain areas.
“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, including assistance to faith leaders and to communities experiencing violence in the Middle Belt,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs cautioned against framing the crisis solely in religious terms, noting, “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, “Oversimplistic narratives can further inflame religious tensions in communities.”
The lawmaker also questioned the impact of recent US military strikes in Sokoto State. She said, “And yet, 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.”
Ex-USCIRF chair Schneck agreed, warning that the strikes may have cost more than previously allocated funds for interfaith and humanitarian programmes and could strengthen militant groups.
“In fact, 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,” Schneck said.
“So, it is very concerning to me. In fact, I suspect, really, that strikes like that, to the extent that they have any effect at all, would likely drive some of these more militant organisations together in greater unity and perhaps mobilise them in the future. So I think that the strike was a mistake,” he added.
Schneck also described Nigeria’s broader security crisis as a combination of terrorism by Boko Haram and ISWAP, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry, organised crime, mass displacement, and “a corrupt and frankly, a failing government” unable to guarantee basic security or justice.
Lawmakers debated whether the CPC designation alone was sufficient. Rep. Jefferson Shreve questioned its effectiveness, prompting Brownback to stress that the label must be reinforced with sanctions and concrete measures.
“Until you put some bite into it, most of these dictators are just going to thumb their nose at you,” Brownback said, advocating for “Magnitsky sanctions” and targeted economic penalties.
Schneck supported this, noting CPC listings are largely “name and shame” without direct consequences.
While Rep. Bill Huizenga said recent US actions had helped refocus attention on Nigeria, Brownback expressed deep mistrust of the Federal Government, accusing it of abandoning power-sharing practices and failing to protect vulnerable communities.
“This government has not given us any reason to trust them,” Brownback said, highlighting the scepticism that shaped the hearing and the sharp criticism of Nigeria’s multimillion-dollar lobbying effort.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Christians in Nigeria are facing genocide and has threatened military action. The Federal Government rejected these claims, stating that while security challenges are serious, there is no genocide.
Amid these tensions, US Africa Command, in collaboration with President Bola Tinubu’s administration, carried out airstrikes on December 25 against terrorist targets in Sokoto State.
In January, documents revealed that Nigeria had signed a $9 million contract with Washington-based lobbying firm DCI Group to communicate its efforts to protect Christians to the US government.
Filings with the US Department of Justice showed that Kaduna-based Aster Legal retained DCI Group on behalf of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, with the agreement signed on December 17, 2025.
Separately, documents obtained by AFP revealed that billionaire Matthew Tonlagha signed a $120,000-a-month contract with US lobbying firm Valcour to lobby US media, Congress, and the Trump administration for six months “for the purpose of strengthening the bilateral relationship between the US and Nigeria.”
Valcour, founded in 2023 by Matt Mowers, a former State Department adviser under Trump, will handle the lobbying. Tonlagha serves as vice-president of Tantita Security Services, an oil infrastructure protection firm owned by former Niger Delta militant leader Oweizidei Ekpemupolo.
