Senate Moves To Avert U.S. Redesignation Of Nigeria As CPC

The Senate has initiated moves aimed at preventing Nigeria from being redesignated as a Country of Particular Concern (COC) by the United States of America.

The steps being taken by the Nigerian Senate are counter-moves to ongoing calls by some of their American counterparts to U.S. President Donald Trump to rebrand Nigeria as a CPC.

The perception among a growing number of U.S. senators, mainly Republicans, is that the rampant killings and abductions by terrorists and bandits in parts of Nigeria, are targeted at Christians.

The American congressmen have labelled the attacks in Nigeria “a christian genocide,” a tag the Nigerian Senate and other informed Nigerians have rejected.

Worried by the development and the implications of possible U.S. sanctions against the country, the Senate has resolved to meet with the heads of the nation’s security agencies.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said the meeting, which is scheduled to hold next Tuesday, will discuss ways and means of fashioning the appropriate responses to growing attacks in parts of the country.

The resolution followed a motion, moved by Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South), during plenary on Thursday, and co-sponsored by 20 other senators.

Akpabio and other senators that contributed to a short debate on the topic, were unanimous in dismissing the religious colouration given the attacks.

At a point during the debate, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo South), observed that discussions were veering off course as some senators becoming uncomfortable in their seats.

A list of the 21 senators that co-sponsored the motion, as indicated in the day’s Order Paper, showed that only three of them were christians.

It was also observed that apart from Akpabio, who interjected discussions during the debate, virtually all the senators that contributed were of the same religious leaning.

Nigeria was designated a CPC during the first coming of Trump as US President from 2017 to 2021.

But Mr Joe Biden, upon assumption of office in 2021 as US President, removed Nigeria from the list of CPC.

Recall that Trump re-elected President in 2024 and sworn-in on January 20, 2025.