The House of Representatives has strongly condemned a bill proposed by United States lawmakers that seeks to hold Nigerian officials accountable for allegedly “facilitating the mass murder of Christians.”

 

 

 

During Wednesday’s plenary session, the lower chamber passed a resolution rejecting the allegations, stressing that there is no state-sponsored persecution of Christians in Nigeria. The motion was sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu alongside 359 lawmakers.

 

 

 

 

The bill in question, titled the “Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025,” was introduced by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. It calls for targeted sanctions against Nigerian government officials accused of enforcing Sharia and blasphemy laws, urges the U.S. Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” and maintains that Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa should remain listed as entities of particular concern.

 

 

 

 

The proposed legislation follows recurring international claims that Nigerian Christians face systematic persecution, a narrative the Nigerian government has consistently rejected.

 

 

 

Moving the motion, Kalu said that while the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently recommended Nigeria for designation as a country of concern, the claims fail to reflect the true situation. “Nigeria’s constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” he said, emphasizing that “successive administrations, security agencies, faith leaders, and civil society continue to take measures to protect all worshippers and prosecute offenders.”

 

 

 

He argued that insecurity in Nigeria stems from complex and multi-dimensional issues — including insurgency, banditry, farmer-herder conflicts, separatist violence, and communal disputes — which affect citizens across all faiths. Kalu 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.”

 

 

 

 

Contributing to the debate, Majority Leader Julius Ihonvbere noted that the U.S. bill has already passed its second reading in the Senate, warning that its passage could damage Nigeria’s reputation and cost significant resources to reverse. “Nigerians are facing economic, social, and security challenges, not religious persecution,” he said, describing the move as a “deliberate attempt to undermine Nigeria’s democratic progress.”

 

 

 

Oluwole Oke, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, criticized the U.S. Senate for excluding Nigerian officials and diplomatic representatives from the bill’s public hearing, describing it as “a deliberate attempt to damage Nigeria’s image.” Similarly, Billy Osawaru, representing Edo State, called it a case of “global politics” and lamented that Nigeria currently lacks an ambassador to the United States who could have engaged with the American lawmakers.

 

 

 

 

Following the debate, the House rejected narratives portraying Nigeria’s security challenges as a religious conflict or as state-sponsored persecution and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to constitutional freedom of religion and belief.

 

 

 

The parliament directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to lodge a formal complaint at the United Nations and urged U.S. legislators to consider a joint Nigeria-U.S. fact-finding and dialogue mission.

 

 

 

The Committee on Legislative Compliance was tasked with ensuring the execution of the resolutions and reporting back to the House within 28 days.