The Presidency has accused United States Senator, Ted Cruz of attempting to divert attention from his domestic unpopularity by sponsoring a bill against Nigeria under the guise of addressing alleged persecution of Christians.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy and Communication, Daniel Bwala, made this claim while speaking on TVC’s Politics on Sunday.
His comments follow recent statements by American television hosts Bill Maher and CNN’s Van Jones, as well as US Senator Ted Cruz, who announced plans to introduce a bill in the US Senate to “protect Christians in Nigeria.”
Similarly, the Canadian Parliament recently passed a resolution describing Nigeria as one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians.
Speaking on the matter, Bwala said Cruz was reportedly facing backlash from supporters of US President Donald Trump and was using Nigeria as a distraction to regain relevance.
“Ted Cruz is the Senator that is always having podcasts here and there, talking about sponsoring a bill against Nigeria. He is under scrutiny by the MAGA movement because of the role he is playing and his unpopularity. So, he wants to divert attention by looking at Nigeria,” Bwala said.
He further alleged that those backing Cruz, including some advocacy groups, were being funded by foreign interests with the aim of “engineering anger against Nigeria” and influencing US policy toward the country.
According to him, “All of these people who are supporting him are funded by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Their goal is to push an agenda against Nigeria, but the good thing is that President Donald Trump and President Bola Tinubu share a common interest in fighting insecurity.”
Bwala insisted that Nigeria would not yield to what he described as “a Western agenda driven by unscrupulous elements using the media,” noting that the US executive branch had not made any official comment on the alleged “Christian genocide” claims.
He also questioned the credibility of reports used by foreign media in assessing Nigeria’s human rights record, arguing that such reports were largely produced by NGOs funded by foreign donors rather than official national data sources like the National Bureau of Statistics.
