The Nigerian Senate has summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Director of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and the Chief of Defence Intelligence over allegations that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) may have provided indirect funding to the terrorist group Boko Haram.

The decision to investigate the claims followed a motion raised by Senator Ali Ndume during Tuesday’s plenary, urging the Senate to take urgent action.

The controversy stems from a viral video featuring U.S. Congressman Scott Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, who alleged at a Congressional hearing that USAID had been involved in financing terrorist activities across the world, including Boko Haram in Nigeria.

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Senator Ndume highlighted that the claims surfaced shortly after Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, warned that terrorist groups operating in the country were receiving foreign funding and training from international organisations.

The allegations gained further traction following remarks by Perry, who, during a session of an advisory committee set up by former U.S. President Donald Trump to review government spending, claimed that USAID’s $697 million annual budget had inadvertently funded terrorist training camps and extremist groups, including Islamic State (ISIS), al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram.

Perry alleged that USAID had channelled funds to Islamic schools (madrasas), which were later linked to extremist indoctrination and terrorist recruitment.

The lawmaker, a staunch ally of Trump, has been accused by critics of attempting to discredit U.S. institutions like USAID and push for their defunding.

In January 2025, Trump, in his second term as U.S. President, suspended all foreign aid for 90 days, stating that the pause was necessary to review and ensure that American funds were aligned with U.S. interests.

The Nigerian Senate has now demanded that the heads of the NSA, DSS, NIA, and Defence Intelligence Agency appear before it to provide clarifications on the alleged funding of Boko Haram and whether any Nigerian institutions or individuals have been complicit.