The presidency has reacted to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s plan to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
Naija News reports that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said his administration would reopen the land borders to boost cross-border business and support companies involved in regional trade.
Reacting to the proposal, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, said the federal government had already reopened most of Nigeria’s land borders on March 14, 2024.
Dare, in a tweet, also pointed to the reopening of the Kamba border in Kebbi State by President Tinubu on February 14, 2026, saying the move had produced economic and diplomatic benefits.
He questioned which borders Atiku was referring to in his promise to reopen them and said the former vice-president needed to explain whether he was proposing removing some of the security measures currently in place.
He said: “On February 14, 2026, President Tinubu opened the Kamba borders in Kebbi state, with attendant economic and diplomatic gains. If he means he would relax existing border controls, then Nigerians deserve to know precisely which controls he intends to remove, why he considers their removal necessary, and what safeguards his administration would deploy against terrorism, arms trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking, and other forms of transnational organised crime.
“An open border is not an uncontrolled border. Modern border management is designed to facilitate legitimate movement, trade and economic interaction while preventing criminals and terrorist organisations from exploiting the same channels. The implications for Nigeria are obvious.
“As domestic insurgencies evolve into increasingly networked and transnational terrorist threats, effective border management becomes an indispensable component of national security. While political contestation is legitimate in a democracy, statements about national security and the Nigerian economy should be grounded in facts, institutional understanding, and a credible alternative policy agenda.”
