President Bola Tinubu will visit the United States and meet President Donald Trump once conditions are deemed appropriate, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris said.
Idris spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today amid rising diplomatic tensions between Abuja and Washington following Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
“We believe that he will go [to the US] once the situation is right for him to go. But he has been to America. I was with him at the UN when he took office,” the minister said.
Trump’s Threat Sparks Diplomatic Tension
Tension between both countries escalated after Trump accused Nigerian authorities of allowing the “mass slaughter of Christians” and placed Nigeria back on the CPC list.
The US president further threatened possible military intervention if the Nigerian government fails to curb insecurity.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.”
Nigeria Pushes Back
The remarks drew global attention, but the Nigerian government strongly denied claims of targeted attacks against Christians.
“Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths,” President Tinubu said in response.
A high-level Nigerian delegation, led by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, is currently in Washington engaging US officials as part of efforts to ease tensions and strengthen diplomatic ties.
US Congress Holds Hearing
On Thursday, the US Congress held a public hearing on Nigeria’s security situation and Trump’s CPC designation, further increasing international scrutiny.
Nigeria continues to grapple with widespread insecurity, including terrorism, banditry and kidnapping for ransom. This week alone, dozens of students were abducted in separate incidents in Kebbi and Niger states.
Idris maintained that the Federal Government is intensifying efforts to combat insecurity nationwide.
