Tunji-Ojo Hits Back At Atiku, Says Nigeria’s Borders Have Never Been Closed

The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has fired back at former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over his pledge to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected President in 2027, declaring that the borders are already open and therefore cannot be reopened.

Tunji-Ojo, who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, said Atiku’s position was based on a misrepresentation of the country’s recent border history, stressing that Nigeria’s land borders had been progressively reopened by successive administrations and that restrictions at some crossings were driven by security concerns rather than a blanket government closure.

The minister made the clarification in a statement he personally signed on Saturday in response to comments by Atiku on his plans for Nigeria’s land borders if he wins the 2027 presidential election. According to Tunji-Ojo, the previous administration reopened the Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum land borders on December 16, 2020, with Idiroko and Ikom subsequently reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022. He added that Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi State were reopened under the current administration in February 2026, restoring links with Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively.

The minister said the timeline made it inaccurate to present Nigeria’s land borders as though they remained under a general closure. “Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened,” the minister said. He also challenged Atiku’s reference to Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic, arguing that the history of some of the affected crossings was rooted in security challenges and should not be presented as part of the same trade-policy restrictions.

According to the Minister, the prolonged closure of the Banki and Amchidé crossings on the Cameroon border began in 2014 as a result of Boko Haram activities and was therefore not caused by the 2019 trade policy. Tunji-Ojo 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.

He maintained that presenting those security-driven closures as part of one continuous 2019 border shutdown amounted to a distortion of recent events. “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 northern border crossing is currently operating without restrictions, saying tighter controls remained necessary in areas where banditry or residual insurgent activities persisted. He said such restrictions were deliberate security measures designed to protect traders and border communities, rather than evidence of government neglect.

Tunji-Ojo further argued that modern border management could not be reduced to a choice between completely closing borders and allowing unrestricted movement, stressing that effective border administration required a combination of security, proper documentation, customs compliance and controlled trade facilitation.

The minister urged political actors to avoid turning the 2027 campaign into a contest over competing versions of recent history, challenging Atiku to explain what would be different under his proposed border policy. “Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history,” Tunji-Ojo said, adding that if Atiku had a new border proposal, he should set it out and explain how it differs from the approach currently being implemented by the government.

The exchange has opened another front in the emerging 2027 political debate, with border management, trade facilitation, regional commerce and national security increasingly becoming issues around which rival political camps are drawing competing narratives.