Kehinde Fajobi
A U.S. lawmaker, Congressman Scott Perry, has alleged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is financing terrorist organizations, including Boko Haram, through mismanaged taxpayer funds.
Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, made the claim on Thursday, February 13, during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency. The session, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” focused on the alleged misuse of federal funds.
“Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money, your money, $697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding,” Perry stated.
He also accused USAID of mismanaging funds allocated for education in Pakistan, alleging that nearly a billion dollars had been wasted over two decades.
“USAID spent $840 million in the last 20 years on Pakistan’s education-related programme. It includes $136 million to build 120 schools, of which there is zero evidence that any of them were built. Why would there be any evidence? The Inspector General can’t get in to see them,” he claimed.
Perry further questioned USAID’s funding for women’s programs in Afghanistan, suggesting that the money was being diverted.
“If you think that the programme under Operation Enduring Sentinel entitled Women’s Scholarship Endowment, which receives $60 million annually, or the Young Women Lead, which gets about $5 million annually, is going to women who, by the way, if you read the Inspector General’s report, is telling you that the Taliban does not allow women to speak in public, yet somehow you’re believing, and the American people are supposed to believe, that this money is going for the betterment of the women in Afghanistan. It is not. You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID,” he declared.
The accusations align with past criticisms of USAID from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called for the agency’s closure. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, accused USAID of corruption and mismanagement, reinforcing his administration’s broader push to reduce government spending.
Elon Musk, whom Trump appointed to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has also condemned USAID, alleging that it operates beyond government oversight.
Musk went further, stating that USAID was engaged in “rogue CIA work” and accusing it of funding controversial research, including bioweapon programs.
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“USAID funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19, that killed millions of people,” Musk alleged.
President Trump has defended his decision to overhaul USAID and other federal agencies, describing DOGE’s role as essential to his administration’s efforts to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excessive regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies—essential to the ‘Save America’ movement.”
The allegations by Perry, Musk, and Trump have sparked renewed scrutiny of USAID’s operations, with critics calling for an independent review of the agency’s spending and oversight mechanisms. USAID has yet to respond to the claims.