Former Vice-President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has pledged to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president in the 2027 general election.

Atiku said the policy would be aimed at reviving legitimate cross-border trade, restoring businesses and creating employment opportunities for Nigerians, particularly young people whose livelihoods depend on commerce across neighbouring countries.

Speaking in a video, the ADC presidential candidate argued that restrictions on Nigeria’s land borders had severely disrupted legitimate trans-border businesses and contributed to business failures, unemployment and worsening insecurity.

He noted that several northern states share borders with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic, making cross-border commerce a critical component of economic activity in the region.

According to Atiku, many young Nigerians who built businesses around trans-border trade lost their investments after the restrictions were imposed.

“All our young men who are doing trading in between these countries, they carry goods here across, they do this, and all the what we call trans-border trade is a legitimate business,” he said.

He said some entrepreneurs who had built businesses with millions of naira and employed other Nigerians were pushed into bankruptcy and unemployment.

“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 no insecurity?”

Atiku added: “So, I said, I’m going to reopen the borders.”

Atiku Targets Nigeria’s Port and Transport Infrastructure

Beyond reopening the borders, Atiku said his administration would prioritise improvements to Nigeria’s ports and transportation infrastructure to make the movement of goods faster and cheaper.

He disclosed that he had previously held discussions with shipping and ship-development companies in Europe on ways to develop ports in southern and southeastern Nigeria and create a more balanced distribution of cargo and imports across the country.

According to him, improved port infrastructure would significantly reduce the cost and time required to move goods to northern Nigeria, boosting businesses and manufacturers.

Atiku cited his own manufacturing operation in Adamawa State to illustrate the challenges facing businesses located far from Nigeria’s major ports.

He said transporting a container from Lagos to Yola can take weeks because of poor road infrastructure and the long route required to move goods across the country.

Atiku argued that goods could reach Yola much faster if functional transport links connected the northern city to ports in the South.

He said a container moved from ports around Calabar, Uyo or Port Harcourt to Yola could take roughly 24 hours under improved transport conditions, compared with the much longer journey from Lagos.

“But right now, it takes me no less than two months to take my container from Lagos, because you have to cross over from southwest, you go to northeast, and then there is even no road,” he said.

Atiku maintained that reopening Nigeria’s land borders, alongside investment in ports, roads and other transport infrastructure, would strengthen domestic production and trade.

He said the measures would benefit traders, manufacturers and other businesses while creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities across the country.

The pledge forms part of Atiku’s broader economic argument ahead of the 2027 presidential election, as political parties and candidates intensify efforts to convince Nigerians of their plans to address unemployment, insecurity and the rising cost of doing business.