…asks FG to challenge bill at UN
The House of Representatives has rejected a United States legislative proposal seeking to hold Nigerian government officials accountable for “facilitating the mass murder of Christians,” insisting there is no state-sponsored religious persecution in the country.
The lower chamber passed a resolution on Wednesday during plenary, following a motion sponsored by Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House.
The proposed legislation, introduced by US Senator Ted Cruz and titled the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, aims to impose targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials enforcing Sharia and blasphemy laws, require the US Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” and maintain Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa on the list of entities of particular concern.
The bill emerges amid international concerns about “rising anti-Christian” incidents in Nigeria—a narrative repeatedly rejected by the federal government.
Speaking during the debate, Kalu highlighted that the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had recently recommended Nigeria for designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), citing persistent violations and alleged state failures to protect citizens from non-state actors.
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He emphasised that Nigeria’s constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion, prohibits the adoption of a state religion, and that successive administrations, security agencies, faith leaders, and civil society continue to protect worshippers and prosecute offenders, a position supported by the US Department of State’s 2023 country chapter and earlier reports.
Kalu noted that Nigeria’s security challenges are complex, encompassing insurgency, criminal banditry, farmer-herder conflicts, separatist agitation, and communal violence, affecting citizens of all faiths. International reporting attributes a significant portion of fatalities to terrorist groups and criminal gangs rather than state policy or a single religious dynamic.
He warned that external legislative actions “based on incomplete or decontextualised assessments” risk undermining Nigeria’s sovereignty, misrepresenting facts, straining strategic relations, and unintentionally emboldening violent actors.
Julius Ihonvbere, the House Majority Leader cautioned that the bill, which has passed second reading in the US Senate, could compel Nigeria to expend considerable resources to reverse its effects if enacted.
He said Nigerians are more concerned with economic, social, and security challenges than with religious persecution, and warned of an underlying agenda targeting the country’s democratic progress.
The House subsequently rejected narratives framing Nigeria’s security crisis as a singularly religious conflict or as state-sanctioned persecution, reaffirming the nation’s constitutional protections for freedom of religion and belief.
The House instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian embassy in Washington, D.C. to lodge a formal complaint with the United Nations. They also called on interested US legislators to propose a joint Nigeria-US fact-finding mission and dialogue.
The Committee on Legislative Compliance is tasked with ensuring the resolution’s implementation and reporting back within 28 days.
