Nigeria’s Borders Already Open, Presidency Replies Atiku

The Presidency has tackled former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, over his recent declaration that he would “open the borders” immediately upon assuming office, saying Nigeria’s land borders are already open.

The special adviser to the president on media and public communication, Sunday Dare, said the federal government announced the reopening of most of the country’s land borders on March 14, 2024, and had not reversed the decision.

Dare, in a statement on Friday titled, “Atiku and the Borders: Nigerians Deserve Facts, Not Campaign Slogans,” said it was therefore difficult to understand which borders Atiku intended to open.
He added that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on February 14, 2026, opened the Kamba border in Kebbi State, with attendant economic and diplomatic gains.

According to him, if Atiku’s proposal means relaxing existing border controls, Nigerians deserve to know precisely which controls he intends to remove, why he considers their removal necessary and what safeguards would be deployed against terrorism, arms trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking and other forms of transnational organised crime.

“An open border is not an uncontrolled border,” Dare said, stressing that modern border management was designed to facilitate legitimate movement, trade and economic interaction while preventing criminals and terrorist organisations from exploiting the same channels.

He said effective border governance required a combination of immigration control, customs administration, intelligence-sharing, surveillance, technology and coordinated security operations.

The presidential aide said this was particularly important for Nigeria because the country’s northern security environment could not be divorced from developments across the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin.

He noted that Nigeria shares borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon, adding that terrorism, violent extremism and transnational organised crime remained major challenges in the region.

Dare said border porosity could provide channels through which such threats were exported to other countries.

He cited the Global Terrorism Index 2026 as indicating that approximately 41 per cent of terrorist attacks occur within 50 kilometres of an international border, while about 64 per cent occur within 100 kilometres.

According to him, borderlands are particularly vulnerable where difficult terrain, limited state presence and weak coordination create opportunities for terrorist organisations to operate.

“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,” he said.

Dare added that terrorists and criminal networks exploited sovereign boundaries precisely because security forces could not simply pursue them across international borders without appropriate cooperation and legal frameworks.

He therefore said Nigeria’s focus on the Northeast and Northwest corridors, including the coordinated deployment of the Armed Forces and other security institutions, should not be misconstrued as evidence that the borders were closed.

“It reflects responsible border security,” he said.

The presidential aide said Atiku, “as an experienced politician who has previously occupied the second-highest office in the country,” should understand the distinction between an open border and an uncontrolled border.

He said political contestation was legitimate in a democracy, but statements concerning national security and the economy should be based on facts, institutional understanding and a credible alternative policy agenda.

Dare said Nigerians should expect a presidential aspirant to provide a detailed explanation of how his administration would improve border surveillance, strengthen intelligence-sharing with neighbouring states, modernise customs and immigration operations, deploy technology, protect border communities and deepen regional cooperation against terrorism and organised crime.

He said the Tinubu administration remained open to scrutiny and should be judged by measurable outcomes in security, economic recovery, border management and citizens’ welfare.

“But such scrutiny must be based on facts,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria’s borders must remain open to legitimate commerce and movement while being secure against terrorists and criminals.

“They must be monitored with technology, led by intelligence, and integrated into the country’s broader national-security and economic strategy.

“That is the policy conversation Nigerians deserve.”

Dare, however, questioned what he described as Atiku’s increasingly critical public outings and policy pronouncements, asking what new and credible contribution the former vice president intended to make to Nigeria’s development that was not already contained in the reform trajectory of the present administration.

“Rather than presenting Nigerians with a coherent alternative, Atiku appears increasingly preoccupied with promising to reverse, reopen, or rename initiatives already being implemented,” he said.