Tinubu administration pays Republican strategist $9 million to appease Trump amid US strike threats – Report

The controversial contract is aimed at persuading the Trump administration that Nigeria is taking concrete steps to address insecurity, including killings of Christians in the country’s northern region.

The administration of President Bola Tinubu has approved a $9 million lobbying contract with a Republican-linked firm in Washington as it seeks to ease mounting pressure from the United States’ government under President Donald Trump over insecurity in the West African country, an investigative report has said.

Mr Trump had issued many threats of military and diplomatic actions against Nigeria over alleged killings of Christians in Northern Nigeria.

According to the report, published on Tuesday by The Africa Report, the lobbying deal is aimed at persuading the Trump administration and key U.S. lawmakers that Nigeria is taking concrete steps to address worsening insecurity, particularly the killings of Christians in the country’s northern region.

The report said the engagement was facilitated by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, through a Kaduna-based law firm, Aster Legal, which acted as an intermediary in hiring the U.S. lobbying firm, DCI Group.

U.S. Department of Justice filings cited in the report indicate that the Tinubu administration paid DCI Group an initial $4.5 million on December 12, as part of the agreement.

The payment represents a six-month retainer, with a second tranche of $4.5 million due in July 2026, bringing the total value of the contract to $9 million, or about $750,000 per month. The report described the deal as one of the most expensive lobbying contracts ever signed by an African government.

According to the filings, DCI Group was retained to help the Nigerian government communicate its efforts to protect Christian communities and to maintain U.S. support in countering jihadist groups and other destabilising elements in West Africa.

The agreement was signed by Aster Legal’s Managing Director, Oyetunji Olalekan Teslim, and DCI Group’s Managing Partner, Justin Peterson, a prominent Republican strategist and close ally of President Trump, who previously served on Puerto Rico’s fiscal management board during Trump’s first term.

The contract was finalised weeks after President Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” citing what he described as the government’s failure to curb widespread killings of Christians.

Four days after the deal was sealed, the United States imposed a partial travel ban on Nigerians, affecting tourist, business and student visa applicants. The Trump administration cited high visa overstay rates and what it called an unreliable Nigerian security framework for vetting travellers.

Tensions escalated further on December 25, when President Trump announced that U.S. forces had carried out an airstrike in northern Nigeria, specifically in Sokoto State, targeting suspected insurgent hideouts.

He later warned that additional strikes could follow if the Nigerian government failed to halt violence against Christian communities.

Beyond DCI Group, the report said Nigeria has also engaged other lobbying channels in Washington.

Justice Department records show that a U.S. attorney and former congressional foreign policy official, Johanna Blanc, received $5,000 to draft a letter addressed to Congressman Chris Smith, chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, ahead of a congressional hearing on Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation.

Although the filings listed Ms Blanc as working under Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, she reportedly clarified that the letter was written on behalf of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

In the letter, Mr Akpabio invited members of the House subcommittee to visit Nigeria to engage government officials, civil society groups and religious leaders on security and interfaith issues.

The lobbying arrangement has sparked debate among analysts and former U.S. officials.

Chidi Blyden, a former Pentagon official who served under former U.S. President Joe Biden and was reportedly involved in aspects of the engagement, said the scale of the contract underscored the Tinubu administration’s urgency in repairing strained relations with the Trump White House.

“Given the ongoing strikes in northern Nigeria to root out terrorist havens, having open lines of communication across multiple sectors between the two governments is key,” Mr Blyden was quoted as saying.

He added that the move signalled the Tinubu administration’s determination to re-establish a working relationship with the Trump administration, largely through private-sector engagement.