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 designed to downplay serious human rights and religious freedom concerns in Nigeria.
The criticism came 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.
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, Chris Smith, defended the October 2025 decision to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act, describing it as “long overdue” given years of deadly violence against Christian communities.
Smith said he was alarmed by efforts to counter the designation through lobbying.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
He added that the firms were producing “very well-written talking points to say nothing to see here”.
However, Ranking Member Sara Jacobs cautioned against what she described as an overly narrow focus on Christian persecution, warning that the crisis in Nigeria was more complex.
“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,” Jacobs said, warning that “oversimplistic narratives can further inflame religious tensions”.
Jacobs also criticised the Trump administration for cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in US assistance to Nigeria, including programmes supporting faith leaders and conflict-affected communities, such as the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace programme.
Former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dr Stephen Schneck, questioned the effectiveness of recent US airstrikes in Sokoto State, arguing that the cost of the military action likely exceeded funding previously allocated to interfaith and humanitarian programmes.
“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,” Schneck said.
Former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, argued that the CPC designation would be ineffective without sanctions, saying, “Until you put some bite into it, most of these dictators are just going to thumb their nose at you.”
The hearing underscored deep scepticism among US lawmakers toward Nigeria’s government, with Brownback stating, “This government has not given us any reason to trust them.”
Documents filed in January showed that the Federal Government entered into a $9m contract with US-based lobbying firm DCI Group to communicate Nigeria’s efforts to protect Christians, with filings indicating the agreement was signed on December 17, 2025.