Interior Minister Insists Nigeria’s Borders Are Open, Queries Atiku’s 2027 Promise on Trade and Security Policies

Interior Minister Insists Nigeria’s Borders Are Open, Queries Atiku’s 2027 Promise on Trade and Security Policies

By Raphael Ekpang

Abuja (Core Reporters) — The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has rejected claims by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that Nigeria’s land borders would need to be “reopened” if he wins the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the country’s borders are already open under a controlled border-management regime.

The Minister made this known in statement he personally signed on Saturday, August 29, 2026.

Tunji-Ojo said describing Nigeria’s borders as closed overlooks the reopening of major land crossings by successive administrations and conflates legitimate trade restrictions with security measures imposed in response to insurgency and banditry.

The Minister, who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), said the previous administration reopened the Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum borders on December 16, 2020, with Idiroko and Ikom subsequently reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022.

He added that the current administration reopened Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi State in February 2026, restoring additional links with Niger Republic and Benin Republic.

According to him, the history of Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon cannot also be reduced to the 2019 trade policy.

Tunji-Ojo explained that the closure of the Banki and Amchidé crossings was triggered by Boko Haram insurgency in 2014 and was therefore security-driven rather than a consequence of the 2019 trade policy.

He said the crossings were reopened in 2019, while Fotokol and Gambaru followed in 2021 after joint military and stabilisation efforts involving Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

The Minister argued that presenting these developments as one prolonged border shutdown creates a misleading narrative by merging two separate policy issues — trade regulation and counter-insurgency.

He acknowledged, however, that not every northern border crossing is currently operating without restrictions, stressing that tighter controls remain necessary in areas where banditry or residual insurgent activities persist.

“Where banditry or residual insurgent activity persists, tighter control is a deliberate security judgement, not neglect,” the Minister said, warning that reopening crossings ahead of prevailing security conditions could expose traders and border communities to greater risks.

Tunji-Ojo maintained that effective border management in the modern era should not be reduced to a choice between completely shutting borders and allowing unrestricted movement.

Rather, he said, it involves balancing national security with proper documentation, customs compliance and the facilitation of legitimate trade and movement.

The Minister therefore challenged Atiku, should he have a new border policy ahead of the 2027 election, to clearly outline what would change under his proposed administration rather than presenting existing trade, security and infrastructure challenges as evidence that Nigeria’s borders are generally closed.

“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He urged Nigerians to distinguish between border management measures introduced for economic and trade reasons and restrictions necessitated by security threats, saying both require different policy responses.