A U.S. congressman, Riley Moore, has accused former Kano State governor and presidential candidate Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of hypocrisy after the latter criticized President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military action in Nigeria.
Kwankwaso, reacting to Trump’s comments that the United States could deploy troops or air strikes to stop the killing of Christians, had urged Washington to help Nigeria with technology instead of issuing threats.
“The United States should assist the Nigerian authorities with cutting-edge technology to tackle these problems rather than posing a threat that could further polarize our country,” Kwankwaso said in a statement on Sunday.
“Nigeria is a sovereign nation. The insecurity we face does not distinguish based on religious, ethnic, or political beliefs,” he added, urging the Tinubu administration to send diplomatic envoys to engage the U.S. government.
But Moore, one of the U.S. lawmakers backing Trump’s call for action, fired back at Kwankwaso in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
Replying to Kwankwaso’s statement, Moore wrote: “Governor — do you care to comment on your own complicity in the death of Christians? You instituted Sharia law. You signed the law that makes so-called blasphemy punishable by death.”
The American legislator attached a screenshot of a BBC report from 2000, which showed that Kwankwaso, as governor of Kano at the time, approved the introduction of Sharia law in the state – a policy that has remained controversial ever since.
Kwankwaso, a leading opposition politician and candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, had not responded to Moore’s post at the time of this report.
Rep. Moore is among the lawmakers working with President Trump on a legislative response after Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom violations.
Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon “to prepare for possible action” and asked Moore and other lawmakers to “report back” on steps to address the “killing of Christians.”
The exchange between Kwankwaso and Moore adds a new layer to the ongoing diplomatic storm triggered by Trump’s comments, which have already unsettled Nigerian markets and drawn mixed reactions from political leaders.
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Kwankwaso, a two-time governor of Kano and former defence minister, remains influential in northern Nigerian politics. During his first term as governor in 2000, Kano became one of the states that formally adopted Sharia law — a move that critics say worsened religious tensions.
Trump’s remarks have revived old debates over Nigeria’s handling of religious violence and the country’s image abroad.
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