The US House of Representatives has voted to advance a spending bill that would cut off foreign assistance to Nigeria over allegations that the government has failed to protect Christians and other vulnerable communities from targeted violence. The National Security, Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2027 passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 217 to 209.

At the heart of the legislation is a provision that would withhold all foreign assistance to Nigeria until Washington can certify that the Nigerian government is taking effective, measurable steps to shield Christian communities from religious violence. The bill frames this as part of a broader push to hold governments accountable for the treatment of religious minorities, and it also carves out support for religious freedom programs abroad, including protections for faith-based organisations that deliver foreign aid.

Who Pushed the Provision

The measure was championed by Congressman Riley Moore alongside a group of Republican lawmakers, among them Florida Representative Jeff Steube, who introduced the underlying bill to the House in April. Announcing its passage, Mr Steube argued that American taxpayers should not fund governments that look away while Christians are subjected to abduction, torture and killing.

Mr Moore, who has previously described the situation facing Nigerian Christians as genocide, pushed for the language to be included in the appropriations act on the grounds that far more needed to be done to confront Fulani Islamist terrorists operating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

Not enough has been done against Fulani Islamist terrorists in the Middle Belt. Rep. Riley Moore, on the House floor

Speaking to the House, Mr Moore characterised the provision as a conditional offer rather than an outright punishment — assistance tied to demonstrable improvement in protecting the Christian population. He framed it as consistent with the Trump administration’s approach of helping Nigeria defend Christian communities while still holding President Bola Tinubu’s government to account if it falls short.

The bill’s path to its current, more severe form was itself the product of debate on the floor. It had originally proposed restricting only half of US assistance to Nigeria. Mr Steube proposed raising that figure to a full 100 per cent, arguing that withholding just half of the funds would still effectively reward a government that, in his view, had failed to protect its citizens. The House adopted his amendment.

A Fraught US–Nigeria Relationship

The provision arrives against the backdrop of an already strained relationship between Washington and Abuja. Early in his current term, President Trump paused the broader distribution of US foreign aid and moved to dissolve USAID, though Nigeria continued to receive limited funding, particularly for counter-terrorism operations and support for victims of violence. In January, Washington allocated more than $413 million toward counter-insurgency operations across Nigeria and other African nations for the year, and within two months had delivered what officials described as critical military supplies to the country.

Faith & Freedom News has closely tracked the joint security cooperation between Washington and Abuja that followed Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) — a label that came after weeks of pointed criticism from President Trump. That designation followed repeated allegations of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, claims that the Nigerian government, along with domestic and international rights organisations, have pushed back on, arguing instead that armed violence in the country cuts across religious lines.

Despite the friction, the two countries have carried out joint operations in recent months, including one that resulted in the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki — also known as Abubakar Mainok — a senior commander with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). The US has also said it recovered a substantial cache of terrorist intelligence from Nigeria that remains under review, while several Nigerian nationals and organisations have faced sanctions over allegations of terrorism financing, including a Lagos-based currency exchange operator accused of moving funds for ISIS’s West African affiliate.

Whether the aid restrictions ultimately take effect now rests with the Senate, and with a president who has made the treatment of Nigeria’s Christian minority a recurring point of pressure on Abuja.