Presidency counters Atiku, says Nigeria’s land borders already open
The Presidency has challenged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to clarify his promise to “open the borders” if elected president, saying Nigeria’s land borders are already open.
In a statement on Friday, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said the Federal Government reopened most of the country’s land borders on March 14, 2024, and had not reversed the decision.
Dare said President Tinubu also opened the Kamba border in Kebbi State on February 14, 2026, describing the move as having generated economic and diplomatic benefits.
“It is therefore difficult to understand which borders the former Vice President intends to ‘open’ when the borders are already open,” he said.
According to him, if Atiku was referring to relaxing existing border controls, Nigerians deserved to know which controls he intended to remove and how his administration would address the security risks associated with such a policy.
He listed terrorism, arms trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking and other forms of transnational organised crime among the threats that effective border management must address.
Dare said an open border should not be confused with an uncontrolled border, arguing that modern border management was designed to facilitate legitimate movement and trade while preventing criminals and terrorist groups from exploiting border crossings.
He said effective border governance required immigration control, customs administration, intelligence-sharing, surveillance, technology and coordinated security operations.
The presidential aide also linked Nigeria’s border policy to the security situation in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, noting that the country shares borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
He cited the Global Terrorism Index 2026 as indicating that about 41 per cent of terrorist attacks occur within 50 kilometres of an international border, while about 64 per cent occur within 100 kilometres.
