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.”

The lawmaker also questioned the effectiveness of recent US military action in Sokoto State, saying, “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-chair USCIRF Schneck agreed, saying the cost of the strikes likely exceeded funding previously allocated to interfaith and humanitarian programmes, and warned that military action 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,” he 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,” Schneck added.

Testifying on the broader crisis, the ex-chair USCIRF, described Nigeria’s challenges as a mix of terrorism by Boko Haram and ISWAP, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry, organised crime, mass displacement, and what he called “a corrupt and frankly, a failing government” unable to provide basic security and justice.

Lawmakers also debated whether the CPC designation was sufficient on its own. Rep. Jefferson Shreve questioned its effectiveness, prompting Brownback to argue that the label must be backed by sanctions and other 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 “Magnitsky sanctions” and targeted economic penalties.

Ex-chair USCIRF supported this view, describing CPC listings as largely “name and shame” without direct consequences.

Although Rep Bill Huizenga said recent US action had helped refocus “attention on Nigeria”, Brownback expressed deep mistrust of the Federal Government, 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, underscoring the scepticism that framed the hearing and the sharp rebuke of Nigeria’s multimillion-dollar lobbying push.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Christians in Nigeria were facing genocide and has previously threatened military action.

But the Federal Government rejected those 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 December 25 against terrorist targets in Sokoto State.

In January, documents revealed that FG had entered into a $9m contract with the US-based lobbying firm, DCI Group, to communicate Nigeria’s 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 the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

The agreement was signed on December 17, 2025.

Separately, documents seen by AFP this month 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.”

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 high-profile former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Oweizidei Ekpemupolo. (PUNCH)

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