Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar has pledged to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president, arguing that restrictions on cross-border commerce have damaged legitimate trade and deprived young people of livelihoods.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the commitment in a video circulating online and shared on Friday by ADC chieftain Dele Momodu.
He said the closure of borders with Nigeria’s neighbours had particularly hurt communities in the north, where cross-border trading has long been an important source of income.
“Northern states are bordering Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic,” Atiku said. “And you close all those borders.”
He argued that the movement of goods across neighbouring countries was a legitimate commercial activity, rather than something that should be stifled by blanket restrictions.
“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,” he said.
According to Atiku, many young entrepreneurs who once operated businesses with millions of naira in capital had been forced into bankruptcy by the restrictions, taking jobs with them.
He cited traders who had invested between N10m and N20m in their businesses and employed several other people.
“All of them went bankrupt and unemployed. How can there be security?” he asked.
“So I said I am going to reopen the borders and I will,” he added.
Atiku also called for investment in ports in southern Nigeria, arguing that better infrastructure would improve the movement of goods to the north-east and reduce the cost of doing business.
He said he had discussed the development of ports in the south and south-east with European shippers and port development companies during the last election campaign.
“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 a stronger network of southern ports could significantly reduce the time required to move cargo to the north-east.
Using Yola, Adamawa state, where he said he had a factory, as an example, he argued that containers arriving through ports such as Calabar, Uyo or Port Harcourt could reach the city much faster than cargo transported from Lagos.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Nigeria’s land borders were closed in August 2019 under former president Muhammadu Buhari in a move aimed at curbing the smuggling of rice, poultry products, petrol and other goods, as well as weapons and drugs.
The government also argued that the policy would protect domestic agriculture and encourage Nigerians to consume locally produced goods.
Buhari ordered the reopening of four land borders in December 2020, including the Seme border in Lagos state, Illela in Sokoto state, Maigatari in Jigawa state and Mfun in Cross River state.
Under President Bola Tinubu, the Tsamiya border with Benin Republic in Kebbi state and the Kamba corridor linking Nigeria with Niger Republic were reopened in February 2026.
The Nigeria Customs Service said the reopening would be accompanied by measures designed to prevent smuggling and other illegal activity.
Despite the gradual reopening of some strategic crossings, several land borders have remained subject to restrictions or heightened controls.
Atiku’s proposal places border policy alongside infrastructure and trade reform as part of his broader argument that Nigeria needs to lower the cost of moving goods and expand economic opportunities, particularly for young people.
