Nigeria’s battle to shape Washington’s view of its internal security crisis has spilled into a lobbying war, with the federal government dramatically outspending Biafran secessionist groups as both sides seek President Donald Trump’s ear over claims of a Christian genocide.

According the noted UK publication, African Confidential: Alarmed by Trump’s threat last November to go into Nigeria “guns ablazing,” President Bola Tinubu’s administration and its allies have moved swiftly to counter separatist narratives in the US capital, signing a $750,000 a month deal for six months renewable contract with the Republican-linked DCI Group to press Abuja’s case on visa policy, military cooperation, trade and tariffs, and to emphasise government efforts to protect Christians and Muslims and combat jihadist violence.

The scale of the contract dwarfs that of the shadowy and unknown Biafran Republic Government in Exile (BRGE), which is paying $66,000 a month to the smaller Madison & Washington lobbying firm to push for sanctions against Nigerian officials, greater US engagement with a putative Biafran administration, and even support for military strikes and favourable oil deals with Washington in an undefined future Biafra.

The oil rich Niger Delta does not consider itself part of a futuristic landlocked Biafra.

Both sides are targeting the same political terrain, tapping into conservative and evangelical networks close to the US President.

The lobbying scramble has unfolded alongside intensified US–Nigeria security contacts, including joint intelligence coordination and US air strikes on suspected jihadist targets in northern Nigeria over Christmas, underscoring how claims made in Washington are now intersecting directly with military, diplomatic and commercial decisions affecting Africa’s most populous country.

In the details of the latest contract to promote Tinubu’s cause in Washington, his supporters are paying the Republican Party-connected DCI Group $750,000 a month – via Aster Legal in Nigeria – to explain the Abuja government’s strategy to protect Christians and Muslims in Nigeria and secure US support to counter jihadist groups in West Africa, initially for a year, Africa Confidential reported.

The DCI Group fee is multiples higher than what the Biafran Republic Government in Exile is paying the Madison & Washington lobby company. This contract, announced on January 10 is remarkably ambitious for the fee of $66,000 with duration undisclosed.

Its aims include: seeking defence and security arrangements, counter-terrorism cooperation and engagement with US and international oil and gas companies under a hypothetical ‘new Biafran Administration.’

It argues that Christian-targeted violence in Nigeria is due to the complicity of the state under Tinubu and that a pro-US Biafran administration in south-east Nigeria would better serve US interests in the region and would also offer more favourable terms for US oil companies operating in ‘Biafra territory.’ It failed to disclose that in the South-east zone, Christians are killing multiple Christians in separatist attacks.

Besides, the Pro Christian and Biafran-secessionist groups have been tapping into the religious right and evangelical Christian organisations in the US for a couple of decades, winning endorsement from senior Republican figures such as Ted Cruz (Texas R), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former Secretary of State (during Trump’s first term) Mike Pompeo.

According to the Africa Confidential report, such heavyweight supporters on the Christian-Biafra team may have prompted the Tinubu government and its supporters to splurge on a top-dollar lobby contract with ties to Trump’s circle in Washington.

Whatever their aims, Tinubu’s officials and their business supporters acted with extreme urgency according to the established timeline:

The timeline is as follows: On November 1, 2025, President Trump threatened to send troops into Nigeria ‘guns ablazing’ to stop what he called ‘a genocide against Christians’. Between November 2 and 19, Nigeria’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu’s team held discussions with the Department of Defence and other Trump-affiliated officials in Washington.

Besides, on November 20, Ribadu and Nigerian military intelligence officers met US Secretary for Defence Peter Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine in Washington.

In the same vein, between November 21 to December 23, Nigeria and the US set up a Joint Working Group to ‘share intelligence and speed up arms requests’ according to Abuja; the two sides coordinate over targets and intelligence sharing.

While the US air attacks on suspected jihadist fighters in Sokoto and Zamfara states were originally scheduled for December 24, this was shifted to December 25, wherein US Airforce launched missiles against suspected jihadists in northern Nigeria after President Trump insisted that the raids should be on Christmas day and warned there will be more to come.

On January 8, 2026 President Trump told the New York Times that there are likely to be further US air attacks on suspected jihadists in northern Nigeria, while on January 12, the DCI Group, with close Trump ally Roger Stone as advisor, announced it was being paid $750,000 for months, renewable subject to performance to explain the Tinubu government’s efforts to protect Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to the US administration.

The timeline of actions will continue into the 1st quarter of 2026 when the US Congress is to decide whether to approve $346 million precision bombs and rockets to Nigeria, via the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

The office of the NSA has confirmed that its effort with the Trump administration is yielding fruits, saying that they have received over a $100 million of military equipment in the last few weeks.

At least 12 Bell Textron AH1Z Cobra attack helicopters worth $997m are also due to be delivered to Nigeria by 2028, the report added. DCI’s managing member Justin Peterson and senior Advisor Doug Davenport are to lead on the contract.

Trump appointed Davenport, who worked on the presidential campaigns of George W Bush and Elizabeth Dole, as his representative on the Financial Oversight Board for Puerto Rico. Davenport worked on the Trump campaigns in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

According to Africa Confidential which has published since 1960, another key figure, Diane London, is the contractor to DCI and is paying the company’s $750,000 fees on behalf of Aster Legal, which has offices in Nigeria and Florida.

“The filings don’t explain where Aster Legal raises the funds from – but insiders say it would come either from wealthy Tinubu supporters or indirectly from the government. Well plugged into Washington, London is also a commentator and a columnist for Newsmax, whose chief executive Christopher Ruddy is close to Trump.

“Insiders in Washington say the DCI lobbyists will focus on the Tinubu government’s moves ‘to protect Christians’. Tinubu is desperate to avoid being defined through a ‘Christian persecution’ lens and to preserve strategic cooperation (counter-terrorism support) and diplomatic alignment (Dispatches 22/9/25, Warlords to Washington).

“DCI’s lobbying rival on Nigeria – Madison and Washington – is a much smaller outfit despite having some influential friends in the US Congress. Its Chief Executive Elias Gerasoulis, 29, formerly a vice president and partner at Moran Strategies in the US capital, set up Madison & Washington and took the firm’s Biafran and Eritrean clients with him, announcing this on social media on 10 January.

“Joining Gerasoulis at Madison & Washington is Arman Dabiri, a Washington-based lawyer who was the legal counsel to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s regime in the 2003 settlement where it accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid $2.7 billion to compensate the families of the victims (AC Vol 45 No 1, Fresh start for old faces).

“Gerasoulis, a Republican fundraiser who has donated funds to Ted Cruz, is trying to use the Trump administration’s claims of genocide against Nigerian Christians to promote Biafra’s independence. He wants to capitalise on the US’s designation of Nigeria as a country which violates religious freedom on 31 October last year which prompted Trump’s threats to attack Nigeria,” the report added.

Yet the so-called Biafran Republic Government in Exile, the publication said. is in turmoil. Madison & Washington’s contract is with Isaiah Harrison Anyaogu, aka Ogechukwu Nkere, who gives an address in Baltimore, Maryland and describes himself as the acting Prime Minister of the Biafran movement in exile, while his predecessors Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa have been detained in Nigeria and Finland respectively.

But it added that Nkere’s status has been disputed by the BRGIE’s governing council, which stated last August that he had been expelled and his position abolished. A letter signed by BRGIE governing council chair, Emma Maduabum, said that Nkere has cloned the BRGIE’s website and is ‘misleading Biafrans and the world, and collecting money from uninformed public’.

Gerasoulis will also lobby the White House to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials at federal, state and local level and will “explain to U.S. officials the role of Nigerian government proxies in Biafraland, such as the so-called Nigerian ‘Southeast Governors’, in acting against both Biafran and U.S. interests by conspiring with US adversaries.”

It accuses Nigeria’s south-east state governors of allowing ‘malign foreign influence, such as Iran, to the oil rich, strategic Gulf of Guinea’ and of being ‘complicit in Christian genocide and highly dangerous to U.S. interests.’

However, feelers from Aso Rock confirmed yesterday that the federal government has indeed engaged DCI Group, a United States–based public affairs and government relations firm, to support the country’s strategic engagement with the United States across diplomatic, security, trade, and values-based policy priorities.

The engagement, it was learnt, reflects Nigeria’s commitment to sustaining strong bilateral relations with the United States and ensuring clear, consistent, and credible communication of its policy actions, reform agenda, and national security priorities under the leadership of President Tinubu.

“Through this collaboration, Nigeria seeks to strengthen engagement with key U.S. stakeholders across government, Congress, policy institutions, faith-based leaders, the business community, and media platforms. The focus is on reinforcing mutual understanding around Nigeria’s democratic governance, religious freedom, economic reforms, and efforts to promote stability across West Africa.

“The engagement will support the communication of Nigeria’s actions to protect all citizens, including Christian communities and people of all faiths, from violent extremism and insecurity. It will also provide a structured platform to engage U.S. policymakers, faith leaders, and opinion shapers with accurate, evidence-based information on Nigeria’s evolving security environment and reform efforts.

“In the area of security, the collaboration supports Nigeria’s continued partnership with the United States in countering jihadist groups, transnational criminal networks, and other destabilising forces threatening regional stability and democratic institutions. It underscores Nigeria’s commitment to coordinated international action against terrorism and violent extremism,” a person with knowledge of the deal told THISDAY.

The engagement also prioritises strengthening trade and commercial relations between Nigeria and the United States. Similarly, strategic communication and stakeholder engagement will highlight opportunities for expanded investment and cooperation in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, technology, and other sectors critical to shared economic growth.

Additionally, the collaboration will support constructive dialogue on international religious freedom considerations, ensuring that Nigeria’s policies, reforms, and on-the-ground efforts are clearly understood within relevant U.S. policy frameworks and institutions.

Commenting on the engagement, a representative of DCI Group said: “We are pleased to support the Government of Nigeria in communicating its ongoing efforts to protect Christians and people of all faiths from radical jihadist groups and other destabilising elements, while also strengthening trade and commercial ties that benefit both Nigeria and the United States.” (THISDAY/African Confidential, excluding headline)

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