US lawmaker criticises FG’s $9m lobbying deal, says Nigerian officials have a ‘culture of denial’
United States lawmakers revisited concerns of religious freedom in Nigeria during a hearing on the topic on Wednesday in Washington DC.
The hearing examined countries worldwide… pic.twitter.com/YbU34QPpmc
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A United States congressional hearing on global religious freedom has criticised the Federal Government’s reported $9m lobbying contract in Washington, with lawmakers warning that the deal appeared to be aimed at downplaying serious human rights 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, monitored by Saturday PUNCH, featured testimony from former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, and former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dr Stephen Schneck.
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, Chris Smith, defended the October 2025 decision to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, describing it as “long overdue” in light of years of deadly violence against Christian communities.
Smith said he was troubled by efforts to counter that designation through lobbying.
The chairman lamented, “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 framed the CPC designation as necessary pressure on Nigeria, Ranking Member, Sara Jacobs, criticised what she called an overly narrow focus on Christian persecution.
Jacobs noted that despite stated concern about religious violence, the US had cut hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign assistance to Nigeria, including programmes supporting faith leaders and conflict-affected communities.
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, including assistance to faith leaders and to communities experiencing violence in the Middle Belt,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs cautioned against framing the crisis in purely religious terms, saying “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 that “oversimplistic narratives can further inflame religious tensions in communities.”