2027: I’ll reopen all borders, develop southern ports if elected – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said he will reopen Nigeria’s land borders that are still shut and introduce policies to ease the importation and movement of goods if elected president in 2027.

Atiku, a former vice president who has sought to become Nigeria’s president in six election cycles since 1993, said the closure of the land borders had forced many businesses to shut down and contributed to the worsening insecurity in the country.

He stated this in a video circulated on social media by the ADC and other members of the party. The video shows Atiku addressing a congregation, but PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify when or where the event took place.

In the video, the presidential candidate said transborder trade is a legitimate business and questioned the government’s decision to shut the country’s borders.

“The Northern states is bordering Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin Republic. And you close all those borders. All our young men who are doing trading between these countries, they carry goods across, they do this and that, all what we call transborder trade is a legitimate business.

“All the upcoming young men and women who used to have a capital of 10 million, 20 million, and they were employing two, three other people, and then all of them went bankrupt and unemployed. How can there be security. So I said I am going to reopen the borders and I will,” he said.

Closure of Nigeria’s land border

Nigeria’s major land-border closure was ordered under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2019, initially described by the government as a partial closure. The measure particularly affected Nigeria’s borders with Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Cameroon and Chad.

The Buhari administration said the policy was introduced primarily to curb smuggling, particularly the illegal importation of rice and other agricultural products, and to protect local farmers and encourage domestic production. The government also referenced smuggling of small arms, ammunition and hard drugs as security concerns behind the measure.

In August 2019, Mr Buhari said the closure of the border with Benin Republic was prompted by the large-scale smuggling of rice through the corridor. He argued that the practice threatened Nigeria’s drive towards self-sufficiency in rice production and was undermining local farmers.

Months later, in January 2020, Mr Buhari said the policy was not solely about agricultural products. He said arms, ammunition and hard drugs were also being smuggled into the country through the borders, posing security threats. He said the government would not reopen the borders until a committee set up to review the policy submitted its recommendations.

The closure affected major border corridors connecting Nigeria with its four neighbours, including the Seme border in Lagos, which connects Nigeria to Benin Republic; Illela in Sokoto, which connects Nigeria to Niger Republic; Maigatari in Jigawa, also on the Niger corridor; and Mfum in Cross River, which connects Nigeria to Cameroon.

However, the borders were not permanently closed. In December 2020, the Buhari administration ordered the immediate reopening of four border posts — Seme in Lagos, Illela in Sokoto, Maigatari in Jigawa and Mfum in Cross River. He also directed that other affected borders be reopened by 31 December 2020, while restrictions on the importation of rice, poultry and other prohibited products remained in force.

The reopening continued in phases. In April 2022, the federal government approved the reopening of four additional land borders: Idiroko in Ogun State, Jibia in Katsina, Kamba in Kebbi and Ikom in Cross River.

The reopening of the borders, however, did not amount to the removal of all restrictions on imports. The government retained bans on certain products and continued to deploy Customs and other security agencies to combat smuggling.

The administration of President Bola Tinubu has also ordered the closure and subsequent reopening of a Nigerian land border, although under different circumstances from the 2019 border closure.

In August 2023, Nigeria, acting under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), closed its land and air borders with Niger Republic as part of sanctions imposed on the country following the military coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. President Tinubu was then the chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

However, in March 2024, after ECOWAS leaders agreed to lift sanctions on Niger, President Tinubu directed the immediate reopening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with Niger Republic. The directive also lifted other economic and financial sanctions imposed on the country.

With the announcements by Mr Tinubu and his predecessor, it is uncertain which specific borders and border posts remain shut across Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted Akinsola Akinlabi, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), to ascertain the current status of Nigeria’s borders, particularly those mentioned by Atiku. However, he declined to comment.

Atiku’s statement, however, indicates that he would open all the shut borders if elected president.

Southern ports

Atiku also said he had previously sought to develop seaports in the southern part of the country to create a more balanced system for the importation and transportation of goods.

Nigeria’s busiest seaports are all in Lagos, creating what many consider to be an economic balance with regards to imports and exports. This is despite the fact that some other Southern states like Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa also connect to the sea.

Atiku said during his campaign for the 2023 presidential election, which he lost, he held discussions with shippers and ship-development companies in Europe to seek their support for the development of ports in the South-south and South-east.

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“During the last campaign, I went across to Europe to discuss with shippers and ship development companies how we can together develop South and South-Eastern ports so that there is balance as far as importation of goods and transportation of goods are concerned,” he said.

Atiku said he believes in policies that would ease the importation and movement of goods, with the aim of ensuring that goods could reach their destinations across the country within 24 hours of arriving at a port.

“So when… if I drop my container in Calabar or in Uyo or in Port Harcourt, it will just take me 24 hours to take the container to Yola.

But right now, it takes me not less than two months to take my container from Lagos because you have to cross over from South-West, you go to North-East, and then there is even no road.”