The US House of Representatives has approved an amendment increasing the withholding of assistance to Nigeria from 50 per cent to 100 per cent until the Nigerian government takes effective steps to prevent and respond to violence, with Florida Congressman Gregory Steube arguing that partial withholding amounted to rewarding failure.
The United States has moved from half measures to a full stop on Nigeria aid — and a Florida congressman is the man behind the escalation.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday agreed by voice vote to an amendment proposed by Representative Gregory Steube of Florida’s 17th congressional district, increasing the withholding of assistance to Nigeria from 50 per cent to 100 per cent until the Nigerian government demonstrates effective action against violence within its territory, according to TheCable.
The House had originally proposed halving Nigeria’s funds in April, pending certification by the Secretary of State that Nigeria had taken meaningful steps to address violence and hold perpetrators accountable. Steube argued that position was indefensible.
“If the aid conditions included in the bill are important enough to withhold half of all the funding to the Nigerian government, then they are important enough to withhold all of the funding,” he said on the House floor.
Steube directed particular attention to the situation of religious minorities, stating that “Christian women and girls continue to be abducted, assaulted, tortured, and killed” and that “entire communities are erased” by extremists operating with impunity. He further cited America’s approaching $40 trillion national debt as additional grounds for cutting aid to what he described as a “corrupt regime.”
“Never should we allow their hard-earned tax dollars to be funnelled to corrupt regimes that fail to uphold religious freedom, fail to adequately confront terrorism, and fail to protect the innocent from persecution,” Steube said.
The amendment comes against a charged bilateral backdrop. In 2025, President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, followed by a Christmas Day missile strike on Nigerian territory targeting ISIS. Both countries have since entered a military partnership deploying US troops to train Nigerian forces in the north.
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