By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Ambassador Designate to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, Reno Omokri, has cautioned against any plans to reintroduce fuel subsidy and full reopening of Nigeria’s land borders, warning that such move could trigger massive smuggling and worsen insecurity.
Omokri spoke, in an apparent reaction to the plans by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress, ADC, Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar to reopen Nigeria’s land borders and remove fuel subsidy if elected president in the 2027 general election.
Atiku had said the policy would revive transborder trade, which he argued had been disrupted by prolonged restrictions on the country’s borders with neighbouring countries.
The former Vice President made the pledge while addressing supporters in a video shared online by ADC chieftain, Dele Momodu, on Friday.
According to Atiku who had earlier revealed plans to reintroduce fuel subsidy, the border restrictions had negatively affected businesses and contributed to unemployment, particularly among young Nigerians who depend on cross-border trade.
He said many young people who previously operated businesses with substantial capital had been forced out of business following the closure and restrictions imposed on some land borders.
“So I said I am going to reopen the borders and I will,” Atiku said.
However, in a terse statement on Friday, Omokri stressed that combining both policies would “unleash the greatest ever smuggling of petroleum products from Nigeria to neighbouring nations.”
He recalled that the last time Nigeria operated full fuel subsidy with open borders, “25 million litres per day of a total subsidised quota of 66.1 million litres per day were smuggled out of Nigeria,” while rice and poultry imported through neighbours were also smuggled into the country.
According to Omokri, “If you reintroduce fuel subsidy and simultaneously reopen all of Nigeria’s land borders, what you are doing is unleashing the greatest ever smuggling of petroleum products from Nigeria to neighbouring nations.
“Let us be careful! The last time we had these conditions (full fuel subsidy, along with open borders), 25 million litres per day of a total subsidised quota of 66.1 million litres per day were smuggled out of Nigeria, while rice and poultry imported via our neighbours were smuggled into Nigeria.
“The immediate effect was the depletion of our foreign reserves, the collapse of the Naira, and the near destruction of our rice and poultry farmers, who could not compete with smuggled imported rice and chicken that flooded the market.
“Please fact-check me: The Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) reported that as of 2026, rice smuggling has forced 90 of the 150 industrial-scale rice mills in Nigeria to go out of business, and those that are not yet out of business operate below capacity, while the Poultry Association of Nigeria revealed that Nigeria loses $2 billion each year as a result of smuggled poultry.
“But, even more than that, when you open Nigeria’s borders without restrictions, as has been proposed, you give terrorists and bandits a leeway to flood Nigeria with light weapons and ammunition, because the borders will be overwhelmed and our customs and immigration officials will be overstretched.
“Again, I urge us all to think things through. Elections will come and go, but Nigeria remains.
“President Bola Tinubu directed the reopening of Nigeria’s land borders with the Republic of Niger via specific routes on March 13, 2024. On February 6, 2026, the President also ordered the reopening of an additional route, the Tsamiya border in Kebbi State.
“His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has ordered the immediate expansion of Nigeria’s military through the recruitment of additional troops.
“The Nigerian Army will expand from eight to twelve Divisions. The additional 4 divisions will increase Nigerian Army personnel by 28,000 troops.
“The President also plans for Nigeria to recruit between 2,000 and 5,000 forest guards per state, depending on the state’s landmass.
“Once we have the personnel needed to secure our porous borders, we will eventually reopen all of them.
“But to reopen all borders without first securing them is to put Nigeria’s security and her economy at risk and portends great danger for Nigerian citizens.”
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