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HR5808119th Congress

Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Representative Stutzman, Marlin A. [R-IN-3]

Introduced

Summary

Holding Nigerian officials accountable for promoting or enforcing blasphemy laws is the central aim of this bill. It would push the U.S. to list and potentially sanction Nigerian actors who create, enforce, or tolerate laws or violence that target people for religion, and to designate Nigeria and extremist groups under U.S. religious freedom law.

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The Impact:

  • Nigerian federal officials and state governors who the Secretary of State finds promoted, enacted, or maintained blasphemy laws or tolerated religiously justified violence would be named in a report and could face sanctions described in Executive Order 13818.
  • Judges, magistrates, prison officials, and other judicial or law enforcement figures who prosecuted, convicted, imprisoned, or otherwise deprived liberty under blasphemy laws would be eligible to be listed and subject to the same sanction process.
  • The Secretary of State would have to submit an unclassified report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee within 90 days and then annually, with the first report covering the prior 10 years. A classified annex is allowed if needed.
  • The bill would require designating the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern and Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa as Entities of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, while also creating specific waiver rules allowing exceptions if the bill’s conditions are met.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

Sanctions on Nigerians tied to blasphemy laws

The State Department would have to send Congress a list within 90 days, then each year. The first list would cover the 10 years before enactment up to the report date. It would name Nigerian officials who pushed blasphemy laws or tolerated religion-based violence, and officers who enforced those laws. Reports would be unclassified, with a classified annex if needed. The President would have to apply sanctions under Executive Order 13818 to people on the list.

Definitions used in this sanctions bill

The bill would define key terms used in this Act. It would name the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees as the "appropriate" committees. It would define Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa by their formal names. It would define Nigerian blasphemy laws and say "person" means an individual or entity. These definitions would guide the report and designations.

Nigeria and extremist groups labeled for abuses

When preparing required religious freedom reports, the Secretary of State would have to label Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern. Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa would be labeled Entities of Particular Concern. The Secretary could skip a label only after sending Congress a written finding. To skip Nigeria’s label, the Secretary must say both groups are not operating in Nigeria and no government is enforcing blasphemy laws. To skip an entity’s label, the Secretary must find the group is not operating.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Stutzman, Marlin A. [R-IN-3]

IN • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
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