WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a stinging indictment of the current administration, U.S. Congressman Riley Moore has accused President Bola Tinubu of splashing millions of dollars on Washington lobbyists while turning a blind eye to a “Christian genocide” at home. The lawmaker, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Nigeria’s Middle Belt, claims the Tinubu government is prioritizing its international image over the lives of its citizens.
According to Moore, the Tinubu administration has funneled an estimated $9 million to U.S.-based PR firms and lobbyists. This massive spend is reportedly aimed at countering a growing movement in the U.S. Congress to redesignate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” regarding religious persecution. Moore stated that the administration is spending millions lobbying Congress while failing to adequately address the genocide Nigerian Christians face daily.
The contrast between the administration’s high-priced diplomacy and the reality on the ground remains stark. Moore highlighted recent horrors, including the Palm Sunday massacre in Jos and attacks on rural communities where worshippers were targeted in cold blood. Despite these atrocities, the federal government continues to frame the violence as land disputes or communal clashes, a narrative Moore and several of his colleagues have flatly rejected.
Washington is no longer content with just talking, as the newly passed funding bill introduces punitive conditions on security assistance to Nigeria. Up to half of certain U.S. security funds will now be withheld until Abuja proves it is actually prosecuting extremist groups. Furthermore, the bill explicitly supports the creation of state-level police forces to protect communities in Plateau and Benue that feel abandoned by the central government, tying future aid to demonstrable action in curbing violence.
While the Tinubu administration maintains that Nigeria is a religiously tolerant nation and that foreign interference undermines national sovereignty, Moore warned that no amount of smooth-talking lobbyists can hide the graves of the innocent. As the fiscal cycle approaches, the relationship between Abuja and Washington hangs by a thread, with U.S. lawmakers demanding that Tinubu stop buying time and start protecting lives.
