The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has challenged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his plan to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected President in 2027, insisting that “Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened.”Tunji-Ojo, who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, the agency responsible for border and migration management, said Atiku’s proposal was based on a misrepresentation of the current status and history of Nigeria’s land borders.
The minister, in a statement titled “Atiku’s border claim: Were the borders closed?”, recalled that several major land borders had already been reopened, including Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum, which were reopened by the previous administration on December 16, 2020.He added that Idiroko and Ikom were subsequently reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022, while Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi State were reopened under the current administration in February 2026, linking Nigeria with Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively.
Tunji-Ojo said Atiku specifically referred to Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin in making his 2027 pledge, but argued that the history of some of those crossings did not support the former vice president’s claim.
According to him, the prolonged closure of the Banki and Amchidé borders with Cameroon was not caused by the 2019 trade policy, as suggested in the debate surrounding the border closures.
“The prolonged closures on the Cameroon border, at Banki and Amchidé, did not arise from the 2019 trade policy at all,” the minister said.
While explaining that the crossings were closed in 2014 after Boko Haram insurgency created serious security threats, before they were reopened in 2019, the minister explained that Fotokol and Gambaru subsequently reopened in 2021 following joint military and stabilisation efforts involving Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Tunji-Ojo argued that combining the security-related closures with the 2019 trade policy created a misleading account of the circumstances surrounding Nigeria’s border management.
“Folding this separate, security driven history into one continuous 2019 shutdown misrepresents two distinct issues, trade regulation and counter insurgency, as a single failure,” he said.
The minister, however, acknowledged that not every border crossing in northern Nigeria is currently operating without restrictions, explaining that some controls remain necessary in areas affected by banditry and residual insurgent activities.
“Not every northern crossing is fully unrestricted today,” Tunji-Ojo said, stressing that where security threats persist, tighter controls are “a deliberate security judgement, not neglect.”
He warned that reopening border crossings ahead of improvements in the security situation could expose traders and border communities to greater risks, arguing that effective border management requires a balance between economic activity and national security.
“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 cautioned against allowing the 2027 political contest to distort the history of Nigeria’s border policies, challenging Atiku to present details of any new proposal rather than portraying separate trade, security and infrastructure issues as one problem.
“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history,” the minister said, adding: “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.”
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