A member of the United States Congress, Riley Moore, has said that Washington will closely monitor Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, stressing that both he and the administration of President Donald Trump will pay “very close attention” to how the polls are conducted.
Moore, a Republican representing West Virginia, stated this while fielding questions about Nigeria’s next general election, in an interview with NoireTV posted on the platform’s social media pages on Sunday.
His comments come amid growing political activities ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 elections, with opposition parties intensifying efforts to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, while civil society groups continue to express concerns over electoral integrity and governance.
Asked whether the United States could do more to support credible elections in Nigeria, Moore said, “What I’d say is that we’re certainly going to be watching these results and how these elections unfold and how they’re executed. And that’s something that myself and the administration are going to be paying very close attention to.”
The lawmaker also disclosed that the US House of Representatives was considering an appropriations bill containing provisions relating to Nigeria, particularly on religious freedom and US security assistance.
“We’re working on Chris (Smith)’s bill, which obviously I’m a co-sponsor of that bill. But I’d say, more importantly, what people need to pay attention to is the appropriations bill that we’re going to have on the floor today,” Moore said.
According to him, the proposed legislation contains “pretty strong and aggressive language” on Nigeria’s relationship with the United States.
“There’s a lot of language that I put on that bill that’s inside of it that relates to Nigeria and the persecution of Christians and restrictions on security assistance to the government of Nigeria, and steps that they have to take.
“That bill’s likely to become law. We’re about to, hopefully, pass that here today. And so there’s some pretty strong and aggressive language in that bill that’s going to be binding as it relates to our relationship to Nigeria moving forward,” he added.
The congressman maintained that he would continue engaging the Trump administration on Nigeria-related issues and revealed he was scheduled to meet the US president.
“I continue to work with the administration on next steps that we’re going to take. I’m actually going to see President Trump tonight. I’ll be having dinner with him and some other members, so yeah, I continue to talk to him about these issues, and it’s very important to him,” he said.
