Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has pledged to reopen Nigeria’s northern borders to legal cross-border trade if he wins the 2027 presidential election, arguing that the closures have pushed many young traders into bankruptcy and unemployment.

Abubakar, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for 2027, made the commitment on Thursday while receiving members of the party at his residence in Asokoro.

A video showing his interaction with the ADC members was subsequently circulated on social media.

Addressing the impact of the border closures on businesses in northern Nigeria, Abubakar referred to states bordering Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the Benin Republic and described cross-border commerce as a legitimate economic activity.

“The Northern states bordering Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the Benin Republic. Then you closed all those borders. All our young men who are doing trading between these countries, what we call transborder trade. It is a legitimate business,” Mr Abubakar said in the video.

He said the restrictions had affected young Nigerians who previously operated businesses with substantial capital and employed other people. According to him, the resulting economic hardship also has implications for security.

“All the upcoming young men and women who used to have a capital of N10 (million), 20 million, employing two, three people, all of them went bankrupt and unemployed. How can there be security? So, I said I’m going to reopen the borders,” Mr Abubakar said.

The ADC candidate also discussed the need to improve port infrastructure and create a better balance in the movement of imported goods across the country.

He stated that “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”.

According to Abubakar, developing ports in the South and South-East would be particularly beneficial to manufacturers by making it easier to transport containers and other materials required for production.

He illustrated the transportation challenge by comparing the time it could take to move a container from southern ports to Yola with the current journey from Lagos.

“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,” Mr Abubakar said.

Abubakar’s promise to restore the subsidy has also sparked debate over fuel subsidies and drawn strong pushback from incumbent President Bola Tinubu, who dismissed the idea as an ignorant stance on the policy.

Source: gazettengr.com