Tunji-Ojo counters Atiku, says Nigeria’s land borders already open

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s pledge to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president in 2027, insisting that the country’s borders are already open.

Tunji-Ojo, in a statement issued on Saturday, August 29, 2026, said Atiku’s comments misrepresented the current state of Nigeria’s border operations, stressing that there was no basis for promising to reopen borders that had already been reopened by successive administrations.

“As the Minister of Interior who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, the agency responsible for border and migration management, it is expedient to state that Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened,” he said.

The minister recalled that the federal government reopened the Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum land borders on December 16, 2020, while the Idiroko and Ikom borders were reopened for the movement of goods and services on April 20, 2022.

He added that under the President Bola Tinubu administration, the Kamba and Tsamiya border posts in Kebbi State were reopened in February 2026, restoring links with Niger Republic and the Benin Republic.

Tunji-Ojo also challenged Atiku’s references to Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and the Benin Republic, arguing that the prolonged closure of some border crossings with Cameroon was driven by security concerns rather than trade policy.

According to him, the Banki and Amchide border posts were shut in 2014 following Boko Haram attacks and were later reopened in 2019, while the Fotokol and Gambaru crossings resumed operations in 2021 after joint military operations by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.

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He said conflating the security-related closures with the 2019 land border closure imposed for trade reasons amounted to a distortion of history.

The minister noted that some northern border crossings remain under tighter controls because of ongoing banditry and insurgent threats, describing the restrictions as deliberate security measures rather than evidence of closed borders.

“Reopening ahead of the security situation would expose traders and border communities to greater risk,” Tunji-Ojo said.

Tunji-Ojo stressed that modern border management was not about choosing between complete closure and unrestricted movement but ensuring effective security, proper documentation, customs compliance and facilitated legitimate trade.

He urged politicians to avoid rewriting recent history for electoral advantage and challenged Atiku to present a clear alternative border policy rather than portraying trade, security and infrastructure issues as a single unresolved problem.

The minister’s remarks come amid a growing exchange between the Presidency and the former vice president over border management policies ahead of the 2027 general election.