The Presidency has faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his pledge to open Nigeria’s borders if elected president, insisting that the country’s land borders are already open to legitimate movement and commerce.
The Presidency said the Federal Government reopened most of Nigeria’s land borders on March 14, 2024, and had not reversed the decision.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, stated this in a statement issued on Friday and titled, “Atiku and the Borders: Nigerians Deserve Facts, Not Campaign Slogans.”
The response followed Atiku’s pledge to open the country’s borders if elected president.
“The facts are straightforward: Nigeria’s land borders are already open,” the Presidency said.
It added that President Bola Tinubu also opened the Kamba border in Kebbi State on February 14, 2026, which it said had brought 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,” the statement said.
The Presidency challenged Atiku to provide further details of his proposed border policy if his pledge was aimed at relaxing existing border controls.
It said Nigerians deserved to know the specific restrictions the former vice president intended to remove and the measures his administration would introduce to prevent terrorists and criminal networks from exploiting the country’s borders.
“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,” the statement said.
The Presidency stressed that open borders did not mean the removal of security controls, noting that modern border management was designed to facilitate legitimate trade and movement while preventing criminal and terrorist groups from exploiting international routes.
“An open border is not an uncontrolled border,” Dare said.
“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 Presidency said effective border governance required immigration control, customs administration, intelligence-sharing, surveillance technology and coordinated security operations.
It said the issue was particularly significant for Nigeria because of the security challenges affecting countries in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin regions.
The Presidency noted that Nigeria’s security environment could not be separated from developments in neighbouring countries, particularly as terrorist and criminal networks continued to operate across international boundaries.
“Our northern security environment cannot be divorced from developments across the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin,” the statement said.
The Presidency also cited the Global Terrorism Index 2026, saying border areas were particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks because of difficult terrain, limited state presence and weak coordination among security agencies.
According to the statement, approximately 41 per cent of terrorist attacks globally occur within 50 kilometres of an international border, while about 64 per cent occur within 100 kilometres.
“Borderlands are particularly vulnerable where difficult terrain, limited state presence and weak coordination create opportunities for terrorist organisations to operate,” the Presidency said.
It added that the increasing transnational nature of terrorism and organised crime made effective border management an important component of Nigeria’s national security strategy.
The Presidency said security operations in the North-East and North-West should not be interpreted as evidence that Nigeria’s borders had been closed.
“Nigeria’s focus on the North-East and North-West corridors, including the coordinated deployment of the Armed Forces and other security institutions, should not be misconstrued as evidence of closed borders. It reflects responsible border security,” the statement said.
The Presidency urged Atiku to present a detailed policy framework on how he intended to improve Nigeria’s border management rather than making a general promise to open the borders.
It said Nigerians deserved to know how a prospective administration would improve surveillance, strengthen intelligence-sharing with neighbouring countries, modernise customs and immigration operations, deploy technology, protect border communities and deepen regional cooperation against terrorism and organised crime.
“What Nigerians should reasonably expect from a presidential aspirant is not a slogan about ‘opening borders,’ but 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,” the statement said.
Dare said the Tinubu administration remained open to criticism and public scrutiny but maintained that such criticism should be based on facts and measurable outcomes.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration remains 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.
The Presidency maintained that Nigeria’s borders should remain open to legitimate commerce and movement while being secured against terrorists and criminal networks.
“Nigeria’s borders must be open to legitimate commerce and movement, but 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,” the statement added.
The Presidency also criticised Atiku’s recent policy pronouncements, challenging the former vice president to present what it described as a coherent and credible alternative agenda for Nigeria’s development.
It said the former presidential candidate should go beyond promising to reverse or reopen policies and initiatives already being implemented by the current administration.
