The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected President in 2027, insisting that the country’s borders are currently open and therefore cannot be “reopened.”
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Tunji-Ojo, in a statement on Saturday, said the Nigeria Immigration Service, which is supervised by the Ministry of Interior, remains responsible for border and migration management and has continued to facilitate controlled movement and trade across Nigeria’s international boundaries.
“As the Minister of Interior who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, an agency of government in charge of border and migration management, it is expedient to state that Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened,” he said.
The minister said a number of major land borders had already been reopened under the previous administration, pointing to Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum, which were reopened on December 16, 2020.
He added that Idiroko and Ikom were subsequently reopened for the movement of goods and services on April 20, 2022.
According to Tunji-Ojo, the current administration also reopened the Kamba and Tsamiya border crossings in Kebbi State in February 2026, providing links to Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively.
He further challenged Atiku’s suggestion that Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic had remained closed for an extended period as a consequence of the 2019 trade policy.
Tunji-Ojo said the situation along parts of the Cameroon border, particularly Banki and Amchidé, arose from security challenges associated with the Boko Haram insurgency rather than the 2019 trade restrictions.
“The prolonged closures on the Cameroon border, at Banki and Amchidé, did not arise from the 2019 trade policy at all. They date to 2014, when Boko Haram forced their closure for security reasons,” he said.
He said the crossings were reopened in 2019, while Fotokol and Gambaru followed in 2021 after joint military and stabilisation operations involving Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
“Folding this separate, security-driven history into one continuous 2019 shutdown misrepresents two distinct issues, trade regulation and counter-insurgency, as a single failure,” Tunji-Ojo said.
The minister, however, acknowledged that some northern border crossings are not yet operating without restrictions.
He explained that restrictions remain in areas where banditry or residual insurgent activities continue to pose security threats.
“Not every northern crossing is fully unrestricted today. Where banditry or residual insurgent activity persists, tighter control is a deliberate security judgement, not neglect,” he said.
According to Tunji-Ojo, reopening vulnerable crossings without adequate security could expose traders, travellers and border communities to greater risks.
He argued that modern border management should not be reduced to a binary choice between shutting borders completely and allowing unrestricted movement.
“Modern border management is not a choice between total closure and unrestricted movement; it requires security, documentation, customs compliance and controlled trade facilitation together,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo also challenged Atiku to provide details of what he intends to do differently if elected President rather than presenting Nigeria’s trade, security and infrastructure concerns as a single border-management problem.
“If he has a new border proposal, he should set it out and explain how it differs from the current approach, rather than treating separate trade, security and infrastructure issues as one and the same,” he said.
The minister cautioned political actors against presenting recent border-management developments inaccurately for electoral purposes.
“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history,” he added.
Atiku’s border proposal forms part of his broader policy positions ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The former Vice President has also proposed the development of seaports in the South-South and South-East, arguing that Nigeria needs to address what he considers an imbalance in the country’s import and transport infrastructure.
During his 2023 presidential campaign, Atiku had said he held discussions with shipping and ship-development companies in Europe about supporting the development of ports in the South-South and South-East.
Nigeria’s busiest seaports are presently concentrated in Lagos, although several coastal states in the South-South also have access to the Atlantic Ocean.
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