The U.S. House of Representatives has agreed to an amendment bill that would increase withholding of assistance to Nigeria from 50 percent to 100 percent until the West African nation takes effective steps to prevent and respond to violence within its territory.
Gregory Stuebe, who represents Florida’s 17th congressional
district in the house, proposed the amendment on Wednesday.
Lawmakers later agreed to the move with a voice vote.
The house had first proposed to halve funds appropriated for
Nigeria in April until the secretary of state certified that the Nigerian
government had taken “effective steps to prevent and respond to violence and
hold perpetrators accountable”.
Speaking in support of his motion, Steube said withholding
only 50 percent of the funds appeared to reward the Nigerian government
“despite failure to meet its fundamental obligation to protect citizens”.
“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,” Steube said.
“Nigeria has faced a horrific wave of violence that its
corrupt government has failed to address.
“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.
“Christian women and girls continue to be abducted,
assaulted, tortured, and killed. Their churches are burned, and entire
communities are erased.
“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.
“The generosity of our taxpayers is a reflection of the
American values we hold so firmly.
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.
“So, why are we rewarding a government that fails to meet
such a basic obligation?”
Steube said it is absurd to expend foreign aid to Nigeria in
the face of rising insecurity, especially as America’s national debt approaches
$40 trillion.
He said his amendment proposal would ensure that US aid is
appropriately leveraged to defend, reflect, and uphold American values.
In 2025, US President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria a
country of particular concern (CPC) over Christian genocide claims, before
following up with a missile strike on Nigerian territory on Christmas Day.
Nigeria and the United States have since entered a military
partnership targeting terrorists in the country’s arid and vast northern
region.
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