The Federal Government has told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that there are no closed land borders to reopen in Nigeria.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, punctured former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that Nigeria’s land borders would be reopened if he is elected president in 2027.
“Nigeria’s borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened,” Tunji-Ojo said in a statement on Saturday.
He explained that the previous administration reopened Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum borders on December 16, 2020, with Idiroko and Ikom subsequently reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022.
According to him, Kamba and Tsamiya borders in Kebbi State were also reopened under the current administration in February 2026, linking Nigeria with Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively.
The minister also clarified that the prolonged closure of Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon at Banki and Amchidé was not connected to the 2019 trade policy.
He said the crossings were closed in 2014 due to Boko Haram insurgency and were reopened in 2019, while Fotokol and Gambaru followed in 2021 after joint military and stabilisation efforts by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Tunji-Ojo said treating the different border closures as part of a single 2019 shutdown misrepresented separate issues involving trade regulation and national security.
He acknowledged that some northern border crossings remain subject to tighter controls because of ongoing banditry or residual insurgent activities.
The minister said such restrictions were deliberate security measures designed to protect traders and border communities, stressing that modern border management required a balance between security, documentation, customs compliance and trade facilitation.
He urged Atiku to present details of any new border policy rather than portraying separate trade, security and infrastructure issues as one.
“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history,” the minister said.
