US lawmaker faults FG’s $9m lobbying deal, says Nigerian officials show ‘culture of denial’
A United States lawmaker has criticised Nigeria’s recent lobbying contracts in Washington, saying they reflect a “culture of denial” by Nigerian officials over religious freedom concerns.
The criticism was made during a hearing on religious freedom held on Wednesday in Washington DC, where US lawmakers reviewed countries they say are facing serious threats to religious liberty. Nigerian authorities have repeatedly rejected such characterisations.
Chris Smith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa subcommittee, cited Genocide Watch in describing Nigeria as “a killing field of defenceless Christians”.
He welcomed the United States government’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, CPC, under its religious freedom framework.
“That wrong in our foreign policy has been righted with the President’s CPC designation. We commend and thank him for that action,” Smith said.
While acknowledging what he described as “small steps” by Nigeria to improve religious freedom, Smith criticised recent lobbying efforts aimed at influencing the US government.
In December, the Nigerian government hired DCI Group, a lobbying firm, under a nine million dollar contract to communicate its efforts to protect Christians to US officials.
In the same month, Matthew Tonlagha, vice chairman of Tantita Security Services, engaged Valcour Global Public Strategy, a Washington based lobbying firm, to help strengthen bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States.
Smith said the contracts showed that Nigerian officials continued to deny the scale of the problem.
“I am deeply concerned that Nigeria has hired the K Street lobbying firm DCI to the tune of nine million dollars, that is seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month, and that a Nigerian billionaire has entered into a one hundred and twenty thousand dollar per month contract with Valcour to influence Congress and the Executive Branch,” he said.
“They hire these firms, they produce polished talking points to suggest there is nothing to see here, and unfortunately these firms are very effective at advocating for their clients on religious freedom.”
Another lawmaker, Joaquin Castro, questioned the effectiveness of US military strikes in Nigeria last year.
He accused the administration of President Donald Trump of using the protection of Christians as justification for strikes while cutting assistance that could address discrimination against religious communities.
Lawmakers also debated Nigeria’s CPC redesignation, with some describing it as largely symbolic and a case of naming and shaming without consequences, while others said it helped refocus international attention on Nigeria.
