The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has dismissed comments by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar suggesting that he would reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president in 2027, insisting that the country’s borders are not closed.
Tunji-Ojo, in a statement issued on Saturday, said it was necessary to clarify the situation.
He explained that the previous administration had, on December 16, 2020, reopened the Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfum land borders, while other crossings were subsequently reopened.
According to the minister, “As the Minister of Interior who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, the government agency in charge of border and migration management, it is expedient to state that Nigerian borders are not closed and therefore cannot be reopened.”
“On December 16, 2020, the previous government reopened Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfum, with the rest to follow. Idiroko and Ikom were reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022, while Kamba and Tsamiya, in Kebbi State, followed under the current administration in February 2026, linking to Niger Republic and Benin Republic, respectively.”
“The former Vice President named Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Benin Republic specifically. The prolonged closures on the Cameroon border at Banki and Amchidé did not arise from the 2019 trade policy at all. They date back to 2014, when Boko Haram forced their closure for security reasons, and they were reopened in 2019, with Fotokol and Gambaru following in 2021 after joint military and stabilization efforts by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.”
“Folding this separate, security-driven history into one continuous 2019 shutdown misrepresents two distinct issues, trade regulation and counterinsurgency as a single failure.”
“Not every northern crossing is fully unrestricted today. Where banditry or residual insurgent activity persists, tighter control is a deliberate security judgment, not neglect, since reopening ahead of improvements in the security situation would expose traders and border communities to greater risk.”
“Modern border management is not a choice between total closure and unrestricted movement; it requires security, documentation, customs compliance, and controlled trade facilitation working together.”
“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history. 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.