The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said that the border reopening plan of the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, misrepresents recent history.
ThelensNG reports that Atiku recently announced plans to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected President in 2027.
In a statement on Saturday, Tunji-Ojo affirmed that, as the Minister of Interior, he supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, which is an agency of the Federal Government responsible for border and migration management.
He explained that Nigeria’s borders are not closed and, therefore, cannot be reopened.
The Minister recalled that on December 16, 2020, the previous government reopened Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfum, with the remaining crossings to follow.
“Idiroko and Ikom were reopened for goods and services on 20 April 2022, and 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,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo stated that the closures dated back to 2014, when Boko Haram forced their closure for security reasons, and were reopened in 2019, with Fotokol and Gambaru following in 2021, after joint military and stabilisation 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 counter insurgency, as a single failure,” he argued.
While acknowledging that not every northern crossing is fully unrestricted today, Tunji-Ojo explained that where banditry or residual insurgent activity persists, tighter control is a deliberate security judgement, not neglect.
He stressed that reopening the crossings ahead of the security situation would expose traders and border communities to greater risk.
The Minister emphasised that modern border management is not a choice between total closure and unrestricted movement, but requires security, documentation, customs compliance, and controlled trade facilitation to work 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 added.
