The presidency has accused U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of taking bribes and colluding with the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to incite unrest in Nigeria under the guise of alleged Christian genocide.

Temitope Ajayi, Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on New Media, fiercely rejected Mr Cruz’s assertions of Christian persecution in Nigeria on Tuesday. He said the senator was an IPOB agent carrying out the agenda of the terror group to destabilise the West African nation.

Mr Ajayi’s remarks are in response to Mr Cruz’s proposed legislation seeking to impose heavy sanctions on Nigerian governors and officials who “support blasphemy and Sharia laws.”

“It is obvious Republican Senator Ted Cruz is doing a hatchet job in U.S. on behalf of IPOB loonies,” Mr Tinubu’s aide claimed in a post on X.

The Nigerian official suggested donations from Elias Gerasoulis, a Biafra lobbyist, helped fund Mr Cruz’s senatorial campaign and served as payment to draw attention to claims of Christian killings in Nigeria.

“It is on record through official filing to U.S. Federal Election Commission that Elias Gerasoulis, who is a lobbyist for secessionist Biafra, paid nearly $20,000 to Senator Ted Cruz, who is sponsoring a bill on Christian persecution and pushing false narrative of ‘Christian Genocide’ in Nigeria in the last four months,” the Nigerian presidential aide wrote.

Mr Ajayi claimed the Texas lawmaker resorted to those allegations, having seen that IPOB activities in the South-East alone could not get the global sympathy the secessionists desperately sought.

“Since Biafra lobbyists and foot soldiers in U.S. and Europe have lost the argument in their poor attempt to frame the criminal activities of IPOB/ESN in South-Eastern Nigeria as self-determination, they are now hiding under religious persecution to rile up the evangelicals and President Trump’s MAGA base.”

President Donald Trump last week designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and threatened military invasion in the West African country over the alleged targeted killings of Christians by Islamic terrorists. His colleague in Nigeria, Mr Tinubu, vehemently denied the claims.

Supporters of both presidents have since launched fiery attacks against each other, with each side accusing the other of spreading misinformation and propaganda.