RismadarVoice Reporters
August 28, 2026
The Presidency has challenged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to clarify his pledge to “open the borders” if elected President, insisting that Nigeria’s land borders are already open to legitimate movement and commerce.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, stated this in a reaction to Atiku’s recent declaration.
Dare said the Federal Government reopened most of Nigeria’s land borders on March 14, 2024, while President Tinubu opened the Kamba border in Kebbi State in February 2026.
He said if Atiku’s proposal entails relaxing existing border controls, the former Vice President should specify the controls he intends to remove and the measures he would put in place to prevent terrorism, arms trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking and other transnational crimes.
The Presidency stressed that an open border does not mean an uncontrolled border, noting that effective border management requires immigration and customs controls, intelligence-sharing, surveillance, technology and coordinated security operations.
It also linked Nigeria’s border security challenges to developments across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, where terrorism and transnational organised crime remain major concerns.
The Presidency cited the 2026 Global Terrorism Index as indicating that about 41 per cent of terrorist attacks occur within 50 kilometres of an international border, while 64 per cent occur within 100 kilometres.
It said ongoing security operations along Nigeria’s Northeast and Northwest corridors should therefore be viewed as measures to secure the country’s borders and not evidence that the borders are closed.
The Presidency urged political actors to ground their positions on national security and economic policy in facts and credible alternatives.
It challenged presidential aspirants to present concrete plans for improving border surveillance, intelligence-sharing, customs and immigration operations, technology deployment, border-community protection and regional security cooperation.
The Presidency maintained that Nigeria’s borders must remain open to legitimate commerce and movement while being secured against terrorists and criminal networks.
