The US House of Representatives passed a fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill Wednesday that would suspend all foreign assistance to Nigeria until the State Department certifies the country has taken effective steps to prevent and respond to terrorism and religious violence, tightening an earlier version of the measure.
The bill passed 217-209. It includes an amendment from Florida Republican Gregory Steube that raised the aid-withholding threshold from an initially proposed 50% to 100%, while keeping in place a requirement that the Secretary of State certify Nigeria has taken effective steps to prevent and respond to violence and hold perpetrators accountable.
Speaking on the House floor, Steube argued the original 50% threshold effectively rewarded the Nigerian government despite what he described as its failure to protect citizens, particularly Christians and other religious minorities, from abduction, assault and killing by extremist groups. He also cited the size of the US national debt, nearing $40 trillion, in arguing that American taxpayers should not fund a government he said turns a blind eye to the persecution of Christians.
The measure builds on mounting pressure from US lawmakers over Nigeria’s security situation. President Trump redesignated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern over religious persecution allegations in 2025, even as the two countries have continued deepening military cooperation against terrorist groups in northern Nigeria, including sizable US counterterrorism funding in prior years. The bill must still pass the Senate and be signed by Trump before becoming law; if enacted, the suspension would remain in place until the Secretary of State certifies Nigeria has met the required benchmarks.
