Congress moves to block US assistance to Nigeria over FG’s ‘failure to protect citizens’

The United States House of Representatives has approved a legislative amendment that seeks to increase the withholding of specified US aid to Nigeria from 50 percent to a complete 100 percent, until the nation implements decisive measures to halt violence and safeguard its population.

The legislative change, introduced by Representative Gregory Steube, was adopted through a voice vote on Wednesday.

Prior to this update, the House had drafted a proposal to freeze half of the designated funding for Nigeria. Under that initial plan, the US Secretary of State would have to certify that the Nigerian government has taken “effective steps to prevent and respond to violence and hold perpetrators accountable” before any funds could be cleared. The newly approved adjustment raises that penalty to a total block of all funds while maintaining those identical certification terms.

Defending his proposal, Steube argued that withholding a mere 50 percent of the financial aid essentially rewards the Nigerian administration “despite failure to meet its fundamental obligation to protect citizens”.

In his address supporting the motion, Steube stated, “I rise in strong support for my amendment to increase the withholding threshold for assistance to Nigeria, from 50 percent to 100 percent. While keeping in place benchmarks that demand Nigeria take effective steps to address the violence and persecution that continue to devastate the country.”

He further criticized the local security situation, asserting, “Nigeria has faced a horrific wave of violence that its corrupt government has failed to address.”

He drew attention to targeted hostilities, stating, “For years, and especially in recent months, Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria have been subjected to violence and terrorism at the hands of extremists operating with impunity.”

Steube added, “Christian women and girls continue to be abducted, assaulted, tortured, and killed. Their churches are burned, and entire communities are erased.”

The lawmaker insisted that if the security benchmarks are critical enough to warrant freezing half of the scheduled aid, they justify halting the entire package.

“If the aid conditions included in the bill are important enough to withhold half of all the funding to the Nigerian government, then they are important enough to withhold all of the funding,” he argued. “The generosity of our taxpayers is a reflection of the American values we hold so firmly.”

He strongly opposed utilizing American public funds to support administrations that do not safeguard basic human rights.

“Never should we allow their hard earned tax dollars to be funnelled to corrupt regimes that fail to uphold religious freedom, fail to adequately confront terrorism, and fail to protect the innocent from persecution,” Steube declared. “So, why are we rewarding a government that fails to meet such a basic obligation?”

Steube concluded by calling the continuation of foreign assistance highly impractical given the severe security challenges in Nigeria, particularly as America’s national debt continues to climb toward $40 trillion.