Fresh from its annual recess, the House of Representatives kicked against the plan by the United States to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern over allegations of genocide against Christians, PHILIP NYAM reports

The House of Representatives, which had been on its long vacation since July 23 resumed plenary on October 7. One of the issues of urgent national importance handled after reconvening in plenary was the motion on the “Urgent Need for a Coordinated Diplomatic and Domestic Response to the Proposed Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 (U.S. Senate Bill S.2747) and the Mischaracterizations of Nigeria’s Security and Religious Freedom Landscape, “sponsored by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu and other members of the House.

The motion

Presenting the motion, the deputy speaker noted that on September 9, a bill titled the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 (S.2747) was introduced in the United States Senate seeking to require the U.S. Secretary of State to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) and to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials under Executive Order 13818 (Global Magnitsky) and related authorities.

He further noted that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had in recent annual reports recommended Nigeria for CPC designation, citing persistent violations and state failures to protect against non-state actor abuses.

The motion read in part: “Recognises that Nigeria’s Constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion and bars adoption of a State religion, and that successive administrations, security agencies, faith leaders and civil society continue to undertake measures to protect all worshippers and prosecute offenders, as reflected in the U.S. Department of State’s 2023 country chapter and prior reports.

“Observes that insecurity in Nigeria is complex and multi-causal – driven by insurgency, criminal banditry, farmer-herder conflict, separatist violence and communal disputes – affecting citizens of all faiths; international reporting attributes a significant share of fatalities to terrorist groups and criminal gangs rather than state policy or a single religious dynamic.

“Concerned 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. “Mindful of Nigeria’s longstanding partnership with the United States on counter-terrorism, human rights, democratic governance and inter-faith dialogue, and the African Union’s emphasis on tolerance and inclusive societies”.

Prayers

The deputy speaker prayed the House to “condemn all forms of violence and persecution against any person or group on the basis of religion or belief and commiserates with all victims irrespective of faith. “The House should reject outrightly, narratives that frame Nigeria’s security crisis as a singularly religious conflict or as state-sponsored persecution, and reaffirms Nigeria’s constitutional protections for freedom of religion and belief.

“The House Mandates the Committees on Foreign Affairs, National Security, & Intelligence, Interior, and Information, National Orientation and Values, police affairs, civil society, human rights to within 21 days coordinate the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to lodge a formal diplomatic demarche to the sponsors of S.2747 and relevant U.S. committees, transmitting empirical data and Nigeria’s official position; the U.S. Mission in Nigeria and interested U.S. legislators to propose a NigeriaU.S. Joint Fact-Finding and Dialogue Mechanism on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), with participation from faith leaders and independent experts, and to invite USCIRF to a hearing/briefing of this House to examine sources, methodology and remedies. “the House should further mandates the Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure execution of these resolutions and to report back to the House within 28 days”.

He equally prayed that the House should order that this resolution be transmitted to the Presidency, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads of security agencies; and the United States Congress leadership (Senate Foreign Relations; House Foreign Affairs), the U.S. Department of State, and USCIRF as well as the African Union and ECOWAS Commissions.

Debate

Leading debate on the motion, Kalu said: “Some of us here will not fully appreciate the importance of this move in the U.S. Senate. It has been read twice on the floor of the Senate and referred to in public as we speak. And if we do not take urgent steps to meet it in the board and it passes the Senate, to reverse it will take us a longer time and cost us even more resources.

“The main problem here comes from, one, those who deliberately demarcate Nigeria outside the country, including Nigerians, for a variety of reasons. Two, gross misinformation deeply embedded in the nature of the American educational system. In other words, for many of the children, many of the parents, even some legislators, they look at Nigeria in the eyes of the 1950s and 60s.

“They do not believe that this country has matured and grown beyond this issue of ethnic contestations and disagreements and disloyalty over issues. Over the years, we have gone beyond this. I can’t even remember when last communities started fighting because of the Bible or the Koran or because they wanted to worship Ugo or Shakuna. “Nigerians are concerned with existential issues.

And I think the bill, or the motion, as simply presented by the deputy speaker requires us to use all the networks we have and to encourage all the relevant communities on behalf and also get the Senate to get involved in this, to engage those who are having this matter on behalf of the U.S. government. When Ted Cruz raised this issue, many people thought it was just a statement. It is not.

“There is an agenda designed to rubbish some of the progress we have made so far in rolling back those enemies, those contradictions, those contestations that have continued to undermine our democracy and encourage new institutions and industries that have promoted corruption and misunderstanding in our society.

“I support, as a co-mover of this motion, I support the ways that you presented and I urge my colleagues not to think that this is just another statement. It has been pursued methodically in the U.S. Senate. I will present it before the conclusion of this session”.

Support

Speaking in favour of the motion, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Oluwole Oke (APC, Osun) said the motion couldn’t have come at a better time than now.

He commended the deputy speaker for coming up with the motion. His words: “This matter has been known and it has dragged for too long in the House. In the Congress of the U.S., a subcommittee of the foreign affairs had been on this matter and they conducted a public hearing. I need to give this information.

They had a public hearing. Mr. Speaker, and they denied Nigerian mission and Nigerians’ audience and participation. “I have had calls to engage the mission in Nigeria here and to tell them that the issue at hand is not religious.

I cited the case of Mr. President being a Muslim married to a Christian. I cited a case of an Islamic scholar in Katsina who was honoured and on his way home, he was murdered by bandits. Mr. Speaker, I cited several issues to show that we do not have religious crises in Nigeria.

“Like the leader has stated, it is a deliberate attempt to damage Nigeria’s image, to cause problems in this country. And because the motion presented by the deputy speaker is investigative in nature, I wouldn’t want to dance into the arena as much. I support and I concur that this investigation should be thoroughly carried out. And our leaders in the Senate too should also be safe so that when they say this, will it convey the true position of peace?”

Also supporting the motion, chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Hon. Sada Solid said “this is the moment that this parliament should re-engineer its parliamentary diplomacy. We must re-engineer our parliamentary diplomacy and pursue this matter through the parliamentary process of the U.S. system. “I don’t know whether this country is having a lobby or lobbyists on the Capitol.

It is traditional. Countries like Nigeria are countries of interest to the U.S. Mr. Speaker, I was in the diplomatic service of this country and I serve on the Capitol. “I report the happenings on the Capitol. I know how the U.S. government system has a tremendous interest of this country because of the strategic position of Nigeria in the world, not in Africa.

Mr. Speaker, this issue, the country of particular concern is a U.S. government policy on countries that are very strategic and very sensitive in world politics and world energy security. “Today, the action of Nigeria can turn the history and the dynamics of energy in the world. So, Nigeria is a country of particular interest.

It is not something that is new. It is there within the security circle and it is there within the diplomatic politics. But how do we address this issue is the way we address the issue of when the U.S. National Security Council issued a report that Nigeria will be a failed state in 2015. “I was the secretary of that committee in the summit. We went to the U.S. Senate in order to address that until we extracted a committee from the U.S.

But this report is not the U.S. government position. We went to the U.S. Congress, the Senate, the National Security Council, wherever. So, it is the parliament that should engineer its vigorous, aggressive parliamentary diplomacy and address this issue”. The motion was unanimously endorsed and adopted.