United States Senator, Ted Cruz, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of prioritising lobbying efforts in Washington over addressing concerns about the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria, hours after fresh controversy erupted over a purported letter from US President Donald Trump praising the Nigerian leader.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Cruz alleged that rather than responding to concerns raised by American lawmakers, Nigerian officials had focused on a public relations campaign aimed at countering criticism.
The Republican lawmaker has been one of the leading voices in the US Congress advocating stronger action over religious violence in Nigeria. He previously introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act, 2025, a proposed legislation seeking sanctions against Nigerian government officials found to be facilitating the killing of Christians or enforcing blasphemy laws.
According to Cruz, Nigerian authorities have created conditions that enable violence against Christians and other religious minorities by enforcing blasphemy and Sharia laws while failing to stop attacks by jihadist groups. “The US government knows the Nigerian officials responsible for these policies; I have been pushing my bill to sanction them, and President Trump has even ordered military action,” Cruz said.
He further claimed that Nigerian officials appeared confident they could maintain the status quo despite growing international scrutiny, while expressing approval of President Trump’s response to reports of Christian persecution in the country.
Cruz’s remarks came amid a separate controversy surrounding the authenticity of a purported letter allegedly sent by President Trump to Tinubu.
News Week Nigeria had previously reported that, the document, dated July 6, 2026, praised Tinubu’s efforts to combat insecurity, particularly violence affecting Christian communities, and described it as an “honour” to support Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
The letter also claimed that the United States had deployed Special Operations Forces to Nigeria under the US-Nigeria 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap to strengthen the country’s security capabilities. It further stated that cooperation between both countries had expanded on security and other strategic issues. However, Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, which reportedly represents former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the authenticity of the document.
In a statement shared on social media, the firm compared the purported Tinubu letter with what it described as an authentic letter Trump sent to Argentine President Javier Milei, arguing that the differences between the two documents were significant. The lobbying firm clarified that it was not claiming the White House had never sent any diplomatic correspondence to Tinubu, nor was it directly accusing the Nigerian president of fabricating the document.
Instead, it questioned why the full text of the alleged letter, including its date and signature block, was released publicly without a scanned copy of the signed original. According to the firm, the absence of the original signed document raises questions about its authenticity. It further alleged that until the original letter is made public, Nigerians should remain cautious about accepting its contents as genuine.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Nigerian Presidency nor the White House had responded publicly to the lobbying firm’s claims.
News Week Nigeria has not independently verified the authenticity of the purported Trump letter.